Sasuke's Revenge
by ilovesoccer13
Summary: Sequel to Uchiha Sasuke Returns, read that 1st! It's been three years since Sasuke returned to and then left Konoha. Now he's back again. How far will he go to get what he wants, and how far will Naruto go to stop him? NaruSaku, ShikaIno, NejiTen, KibaHin
1. The Tradition

Naruto grinned against Sakura's lips, pushing her down onto his bed softly to continue their kissing on it. Sakura felt Naruto's hand slide under her shirt and slowly inch upward. Before it could get any higher, she quickly broke the kiss.

Naruto's grin faded. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

Sakura blushed. "Um...I'm just not really comfortable with doing that yet. You know that, Naruto."

Naruto smiled shyly, scratching his head. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, Sakura-chan."

Sakura frowned at him. "How many times do I have to tell you, Naruto? We've been dating for three years now, you don't have to call me Sakura-chan."

"Eh...old habits die hard. Besides, you don't know how good you've got it, Sakura-ch...Sakura!" He gave her a nervous smile and rolled off of her so they were lying down next to each other.

Sakura rolled her eyes, but snuggled up against him. "Yeah, I guess you're right. How many eighteen-year-old guys are as willing to take things as slow as we are?"

"None," Naruto confirmed. "Especially after three years! It's okay though, I don't really mind that much. I'll wait thirty years if I have to!"

Sakura giggled as Naruto wrapped an arm around her. "I think I had you pinned when we were fifteen, Naruto. You're the perfect boyfriend."

"Only for you." He gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

Sakura grinned. After a minute, she sat up and looked at him. "So what do you want to do for the next hour? It's only four in the afternoon."

"Eat ramen."

"Option two."

"Eat miso ramen."

Sakura scowled at him. "Seriously. You're so predictable, Naruto."

"Maybe that's because we've spent almost every waking moment of our lives together for the past three years," Naruto pointed out.

"True," Sakura replied with a shrug. "But I feel like doing something different today..." She looked over to see Naruto mouthing the words as she said them.

"Naruto!" both of them cried at the same time. "Stop that!" they said together.

Sakura frowned and punched his shoulder. "You're annoying."

"And you're abusive!"

She rolled her eyes and got up off the bed, watching as Naruto also got up. "Let's take a walk or something. Maybe Ino and Shikamaru are out doing something today, too!" Sakura suggested.

Naruto's shoulders slumped. "We spent all day with them yesterday!"

Sakura grabbed his hand and yanked him out of the room. "Just come on!"

They exited Naruto's house and headed down the crowded streets, searching for someone they knew. As they walked by, hand in hand, Naruto heard a loud whistle come from nearby. He released Sakura's hand and immediately did a 360, fists clenched and raised to fight. "Who did that?!" he called out. Everyone turned to look at him. "She's mine, so back off!"

Sakura blushed dark red and pulled him away before anyone could say anything. "Naruto, you idiot!" she hissed. "What the hell did you do that for?!"

Naruto frowned at her. "They were whistling at you!"

She frowned back, shoving him away half-heartedly. "Paranoid, much?"

"Hey, nobody's stealing my girlfriend if I can help it!"

"Naruto, does the phrase "three years" mean nothing to you?"

Naruto blinked at her.

Sakura sighed. "You have issues."

Naruto ignored her, grinning at something in another direction. "Hey, we haven't seen Hinata and Kiba in a while, right?" He pointed at the couple, who were buying ice cream at a stand nearby.

Sakura allowed herself to be pulled towards them, and as they got closer, Kiba and Hinata spotted them. A whispered, "Hide it, hide it!" came from Kiba, and Hinata quickly grabbed her finger with one hand and then shoved that same hand into her pocket a second later. They both grinned nervously as Naruto and Sakura approached.

"Hey guys, it's been almost a month! What have you been up to?" Naruto asked.

"Er, nothing much really, lots and lots of missions, that's all!" Kiba cried.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Really? I've talked to Shino six times this month," she commented.

"O-oh!" Hinata exclaimed. "Well, they were just two-member missions. Yeah..." She went red and looked away.

Kiba scratched the back of his neck, looking from Sakura to Naruto. After a moment, he lowered his voice. "Okay, look, can you guys keep a secret? Especially from Neji."

They both looked at Kiba with interest, but nodded.

"Are you sure we should tell them?" Hinata asked Kiba.

"Sure! They said they won't tell, right?"

Sakura and Naruto nodded again. "We won't tell, promise!" Naruto shouted loudly. Kiba and Hinata looked from Naruto's grinning face, to Sakura's serious one, before quickly grabbing Sakura and leading her away from Naruto.

"Hey! What gives?" Naruto called from behind them. Hinata shot Kiba a look, and he went back to hold Naruto off.

"What's up?" Sakura asked once she and Hinata were alone.

"Um...see..." Hinata sighed. "You really can't tell Neji, okay? Even though he's a bit of a hypocrite anyway for dating Tenten..." she muttered.

"What is it, Hinata?" Sakura asked impatiently.

"Okay, okay..." Hinata stuck a hand into her pocket and pulled out a small ring. "Kiba asked me to marry him yesterday, and I said yes!"

Sakura gaped at her. "He did WHAT? Hinata, you're only eighteen! What on Earth are you thinking?"

"Well, I..." Hinata pressed her fingers together nervously. "I love him and all, so I...we can wait for the actual marriage, but we figured for now...I mean, we're only engaged right now. It's not like we're getting married tomorrow or anything..."

Sakura shook he head, exhaling loudly. "Okay. It's your choice, Hinata. I won't try and make you change your mind. But who else knows?"

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks. I figured you would take it the best, so actually, you're the first we've told. Do you think you could keep it a secret from Naruto, though? He's...kind of a loud mouth."

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, I noticed." They both looked back at Kiba and Naruto, who were now wrestling on the ground playfully, much to the amusement of the other villagers.

"Well, I guess we should get going. Lots of preparations to be made and all..."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"Er...dinner preparations! Yes...we're having a very nice dinner tonight, Kiba and I. Um...yeah...bye!" Hinata squeaked out, quickly retrieving Kiba and pulling him off in another direction.

Naruto approached Sakura suspiciously, dusting himself off. "What was that all about?"

"Uh, girl stuff. You wouldn't want to know," Sakura lied.

"Oh," Naruto replied, scratching his head. "Well, what should we do now? I'm kind of in the mood for..." He paused at the look on Sakura's face. "...um...Neji!"

"What?!"

Naruto hurried to explain. "No! Neji!" He pointed behind her, and Sakura spun around to see Neji only a few feet away.

_"Oh no. I hope he didn't see me talking to Hinata..."_ Sakura thought. They approached Neji cautiously.

"Hey, Neji," Naruto said, as Neji hadn't seemed to have noticed them yet. "What's up?"

Neji seemed to be fiddling with something in his hands, putting it away after a moment and clearing his throat. "Oh. Hello, Naruto. Sakura." He nodded to each of them. "What brings you here?"

"It's just been a while since we've talked to anyone, being so busy with missions and all. Kakashi-sensei's been busy too, with Kurenai and Maito Gai. They're on a month-long mission right now. It reminds me of that time three years ago, when he left with them for nearly four months..." She trailed off with a frown. After a moment, she looked back up at Neji. "So how have you been?"

Neji shrugged. "I'm okay. I tried to move in with Tenten a week ago...that did not go well."

Naruto grinned. "Why? Did she not want you there?"

Neji glared at him. "No, the rest of the clan didn't want me there. I hear they did the same thing to Hinata when she tried to move in with Kiba. And now..." He sighed. "...I think they're trying to kill two birds with one stone. They're trying to convince me to marry Hinata."

Sakura held back a grin. _"The Hyuuga clan's in for a big surprise..." _

"Ew!" Naruto cried. "That's disgusting!"

Neji shrugged. "Our clan's been doing it for years. I said no, of course, and I know Hinata will object to it as well. So it's not really a problem."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Well, don't worry Neji, I'm sure it'll all work out. Hey, do you know what time it is?"

Neji looked at his watch. "Ten 'till five."

"I thought so. We have to go," Sakura told him apologetically.

"See you later!" Naruto called, allowing himself to be pulled away by Sakura. As they walked, their smiles slowly died away.

They headed for the edge of Konoha, arriving there at almost five o' clock and staring up at the lone hill nearby with a cross perched on top of it. Hand in hand, they climbed the hill, sitting down in the grass in front of the cross.

"Sasuke Uchiha. Born: July 23rd. Died: July 5th," Sakura read aloud. They both sat in silence for a moment.

This was a daily tradition for them, prompted by Naruto's guilt, which had finally kicked in a few weeks after Sasuke had died. Sakura tried talking to him, telling them that he shouldn't blame himself for Sasuke's death, but it didn't work. So instead, she helped him repay the debt he thought he owed, coming to mourn the old Sasuke at his grave every day at five p.m. If they were on a mission or were busy one day, they would make it up the next by staying there for ten minutes instead of five. Almost every day for the past three years, Sakura and Naruto could be found by Sasuke's grave at five o' clock.

After five minutes of staring at the grave, Sakura looked over at Naruto to see his eyes shut tightly. "You ready to go?" she asked.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked back at her sadly. "Yeah..." he whispered.

Sakura had only seen Naruto cry once during their three year relationship, and that was when the fact that Sasuke was actually dead finally hit him, right around the time that his guilt started. They had been alone at the time, and Sakura wondered if she was the only person who had ever seen Naruto cry other than when Jiraiya died.

They stood up, Naruto gripping Sakura's hand tightly, and after another moment, left the grave and headed back towards the village.


	2. Karin Finally Tells

When they reached the village, Sakura looked up at Naruto. "Walk me home?" she asked, grabbing his hand.

Naruto nodded absentmindedly.

That was one thing Sakura didn't like about her and Naruto's tradition. It always killed any happiness either of them had at the time, and Naruto was always distant afterwards, like he wasn't really there. As a result, they rarely spent any time together after five. But Naruto was always back to normal by morning.

Sakura's house was on the way to Naruto's anyway, so her question hadn't been necessary. She always asked it anyway, just to see what Naruto's reaction would be. And every day, it was the same distant nod.

She heaved a sigh of exhaustion. It was only a little after five, but for some reason, she felt more tired than usual. Sakura had a feeling she would be going to bed early tonight.

"Sakura-san!" a woman called, running up to her. Sakura quickly identified her as a nurse from the hospital. "We need your help!" Sakura frowned. So much for her prediction.

She slowed to a stop, and Naruto stopped next to her. "What's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"She's having another fit. We need you to calm her down," said the nurse.

Sakura sighed again, releasing Naruto's hand. "I have to go, Naruto. I'll see you tomorrow."

He nodded and walked away before Sakura could say anything else. She watched him retreat, before turning back to the nurse. "Alright, let's go."

The nurse led her back to the hospital and down a hall, stopping at the door to a room.

"Same as usual?" Sakura asked.

The nurse nodded. "Yes. Do you think you can handle it?"

"I'm sure I can. I'll call you when she's calm again." The nurse left, and Sakura entered the room.

Karin was sitting with her back against the wall, slowly rocking back and forth and muttering incomprehensible words. Sakura walked over to her, kneeling down and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Karin? Are you okay?"

Karin didn't even seem to notice her prescence, and continued what she was doing. Sakura held back a sigh, grabbing her with both hands so that her movements would cease. "Karin, what's wrong?" she asked loudly.

Karin shook her head quickly, returning to normal and looking at Sakura in surprise. "Sakura? When did you get here?"

"Just now, but that doesn't matter. This is the fifth time this week, Karin. It's getting worse and worse. Do you have any idea what's causing this?"

Karin glared at her and stood up, pushing Sakura away from her. "Causing what? I've told you before, nothing's wrong with me! I shouldn't even be living in this stupid hospital!"

Sakura struggled to keep a neutral expression. "The others nurses have found you on the ground multiple times over the past year, rocking back and forth and muttering things nobody can understand. I've told you this many times, but you never seem to remember. I want to know if you know what's causing it."

Karin stared at her, thinking back to the day she had been taken to the hospital a year ago. She had been talking to Hinata, and Sasuke had come up. Yes, that was definitely it. Hinata was saying something about Naruto and Sakura having a daily tradition, and...that was when she had almost blurted out Sasuke's secret.

Her eyes widened as she remembered the pressure she had felt to tell. It was almost as if Sasuke was in her mind, pressing down harder and harder until Karin wished she could just die so the pain would fade. But she figured she couldn't have told anything even if she had wanted to, because the next thing she had known, she was lying in a hospital bed and a nurse was calling out that she was awake.

Karin shook her head to clear her thoughts, looking back at Sakura. "I don't know what's causing it."

Sakura shook her head and muttered, "That's what you always say." After a moment, she asked, "Do you need anything? A towel, a glass of water?"

"A glass of water would be nice," Karin replied. Sakura left the room.

Karin walked over to her bed, lying down on it and putting a palm on her temple. She wondered if this was what happened every time she started to feel the pressure. An endless cycle of pressure, fits, going back to normal, and then denying that she knew the cause of it. She frowned. Death was better than a life like this. If not telling caused the cycle, then the only other option would be to tell someone that Sasuke was still alive. Then again, there was a third option...

Karin rolled her eyes. Contrary to popular belief, she valued her pride, and there was no way she was going to end her own life, no matter how crazy she got. She thought of Sasuke again, and felt the familiar pressing down sensation on her brain. She shook her head to clear it, but something was wrong. It wasn't going away like it usually did. She would have another fit if it didn't go away soon. The pressure steadily increased, and Karin gripped her head and grit her teeth. She was tired of this endless cycle. So what if Sasuke killed her? Anything was better than this.

She made up her mind. As soon as someone walked into the room, she would say...

Sakura came back in, carrying the glass of water. "Here's your water, Karin..." She trailed off, rushing to Karin's side when she saw her gripping her head. "Karin, are you okay? Are you having another fit? Try to say something!"

"Aah...it hurts..." Karin groaned. "...the pressure..." She collapsed backwards on the bed, gasping loudly.

Sakura panicked. She was usually the one who calmed Karin down after the fits, and had no idea how to prevent one from happening. "Nurse! I need a nurse!" Sakura called, moving to leave the room.

Karin grabbed her wrist before she could take a step. "Sasuke's...alive..." she whispered.

There was a loud bang as the glass of water hit the floor and shattered. "W-What?" Sakura asked.

Karin sighed contently, and the pressure left her head almost immediately. For a moment, she forgot about everything around her, enjoying the fact that she would probably never feel that pressure on her head again. Then she remembered what Sasuke had said to her three years ago. She gasped and looked up at Sakura, seeing an expression of shocked disbelief on her face. "Sakura, I'm in danger! And so is Naruto! You have to hel..." She stopped mid sentence, seeming to sink deeper into the mattress.

"Karin?" Sakura asked meekly, shaking her. Karin didn't move, and slowly, and small pool of blood began to form underneath her body, spreading out so that it was visible to Sakura.

The medic-nin sank to the ground in shock, eyes wide and mouth open. She didn't even hear the other nurses come running into the room.

* * *

Naruto awoke the next morning, stretching his arms up over his head and letting out a loud yawn. He pressed a button on his alarm clock, and it shut off.

His eyes focused on the picture next to the clock, and he grinned. It was a picture of Sakura and him running away from Tsunade, about two years ago. He grinned as he remembered that day.

_"Just once!" Naruto pleaded, tugging on Sakura's hand. _

_"No!" Sakura replied, jerking her hand away and crossing her arms. "I will not vandalize Tsunade-sama's statue on Hokage Mountain!" _

_Ten minutes later..._

_"I can't believe you convinced me to do that..." _

_They both stared up at the mountain, and at Tsunade's brand new mustache and beard. _

_"NARUTO!" _

_Naruto and Sakura let out a loud eep and took off in a random direction, hearing the Hokage's voice echoing behind them. "Come back here!" _

_Naruto found the courage to laugh, pulling a camera out of his pocket and snapping a picture of himself and Sakura. Tsunade's face was barely visible in the background behind them. _

"Well, better head over to Sakura-chan's house and see what she wants to do today!" Naruto exclaimed aloud, pulling on his outfit and heading out the front door.

* * *

When Sakura woke up that morning, she knew immediately that she wasn't in her own bed. At first she thought she had fallen asleep at Naruto's, but when her eyes opened, she was lying in a hospital bed. It was then that she remembered the events of the past night.

_"It must have been dream," _she thought, sitting up. _"But if it was, what am I doing in a hospital bed?"_ She looked around and realized that she was alone. _"Did something happen to me? Is that why I'm here?" _

Sakura let her legs move to touch the floor, and slowly, she stood up. Her hand throbbed painfully, but she ignored it. She took a few steps forward, peering out of the room and into the hall. It was empty. _"Where is everybody?" _

Her footsteps echoed as she walked down the hall. _"Well, I suppose I should check on Karin. Make sure it really was a dream." _

She reached the room, and saw that the door was closed. Her hand went to the knob, and as she turned it, she realized something was wrong. It felt like there was an enormous weight against the door, and after a moment of struggling, Sakura pulled it open.

Body after body fell out of the room and into the hall around her. She looked around with wide eyes, staring at the expressions of shock on the faces of nurses she had known for over three years. They were all dead. Everyone in the hospital was dead. And now she knew: Sasuke was back.

Her hand throbbed again, and this time Sakura looked down at it. On the back of her hand, in the very center, the symbol of the Uchiha clan was carved.

Nobody was around to hear Sakura's screams.

Or so she thought.


	3. Whipped?

Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets, whistling softly as he walked down the bustling streets.

"Oh Shikamaru! Where are youuuuuuuu!?" came Ino's singsonging voice.

Naruto stopped in his tracks, looking around. Suddenly, he was tackled sideways into some nearby bushes. When he finally recovered from the landing, he saw Shikamaru crouched beside him, peering through the bushes nervously.

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru muttered after a moment, sighing in relief as Ino headed away from them in the opposite direction.

"Isn't she your girlfriend?" Naruto asked, raising his eyebrows.

"It's a love hate relationship," Shikamaru replied, rubbing the back of his neck. He laid down on his back, staring up at the sky. "I need a break."

"Why don't you just tell Ino that?" Naruto asked.

"You know Ino. How do you think that would go?" Shikamaru frowned thoughtfully. "You know what? I haven't done this since I was twelve, but I think maybe we should have a guy's day today, you know? Just the men." He looked up at Naruto. "What do you think?"

"Er...I don't know, I was actually headed to Sakura's house when..."

Shikamaru shook his head disappointingly. "Dude, you're whipped."

Naruto's jaw dropped. NOBODY called him whipped. "I am NOT whipped! Look who's talking, Ino's got you wrapped around her finger."

"At least I'm the one running away from her, instead of heading to her house! How far have you guys gone, then?"

Naruto blushed. "That's...that's none of your business!"

Shikamaru smirked. "That's what I thought."

Naruto growled angrily. "Fine! Where's the rest of the guys? I'll prove I'm not whipped!" His anger faded, and he smiled nervously. "Um...could we be done by five, though?"

* * *

"Ugh...stupid Shikamaru..." Ino muttered, plopping down next to Tenten and Hinata, who were sitting at a nearby picnic table.

"What did he do this time?" Tenten asked.

"I think he's hiding from me again."

Hinata giggled. "I can't see Kiba hiding from me."

"Same with Neji. They've both gone to buy us sodas, actually."

All three girls turned to look at Kiba and Neji, who were a few yards away, handing money to a cashier. In a flash, Naruto and Shikamaru were by their sides, and each of them grabbed an arm. Almost as quickly as they had appeared, all four guys were gone.

Tenten scowled in the direction they had left. "Where did they go?"

"I...don't know..." Hinata replied.

Ino stood up angrily. "Shikamaru!"

* * *

"Here we are, men!" Naruto cried, leading Kiba to a nearby alleyway, while Shikamaru pulled Neji along. Shino, Chouji, Sai, and Rock Lee were already there.

"What the hell is this?" Kiba asked, looking around at them all. "Me and Neji were on a double-date with our girlfriends!"

Neji nodded in agreement.

"Well, I think you guys are..." Naruto leaned in closer until his mouth was right next to both guys' ears. "...whipped."

Beads of sweat appeared on the backs of their heads.

Neji crossed his arms and glared at Naruto. "What did you just say?"

"We...are NOT whipped," Kiba growled.

"Prove it," Naruto said with a smirk. "Come with us and enjoy a guys' day out!" He cocked his head questioningly. "Unless you're not...man enough."

Kiba stomped out of the alleyway, leading the way. "Let's go."

Naruto and Shikamaru exchanged grins.

* * *

"...I think they ditched us."

Tenten frowned at Hinata. "I'm sure they'll be back any minute, Hinata."

Ino sighed and rested her chin on the table. "I don't think so." Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she grinned at them. "I know! Since none of our boyfriends are around, we should have a day to ourselves! Just the girls!"

"But what about Sakura?" Hinata asked.

"Oh, we'll find her!" Ino exclaimed. "She's probably at the hospital, actually. She's almost always working there, when she's not with Naruto. And we just saw Naruto, and Sakura wasn't with him." She stood up excitedly. "Come on, let's go find her! We'll get her to take a break!"

* * *

"Where do you think they're going?" Sai asked, watching the three girls run off.

"Who cares. This is our day," Shikamaru told him. "Now, anyone got any ideas about what we should do today?"

"Get drunk?"

"Go to a club?"

"Look at girls naked!"

Heads turned at Rock Lee's suggestion.

"Hmm...not a bad idea. Anyone know where we could do that?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well..." Naruto started. "...Pervy Sage used to always spy on them at the hot springs. Maybe we could go there."

"Naruto. We have girlfriends. It's wrong," Neji said.

"Yeah! I can't spy on other women!" Kiba told him. "I don't care how many times you say I'm whipped. I won't do it."

Shino's face was expressionless, but everyone could tell he agreed with Kiba.

"Fine," Naruto told them, crossing his arms. "You can watch the rest of us do it, then."

They headed to the hot springs, basically divided into three groups.

First, there were the ones who didn't really want to participate. Kiba, Neji, and Shino fell into this category. Next came the ones who didn't really care: Chouji and Sai. Shikamaru, Naruto, and Rock Lee were the three that were actually eager to participate, although Shikamaru and Naruto were only doing it to prove they weren't whipped. Basically, that left Rock Lee as the biggest perv of them all.

"Alright, who's going first?" Shikamaru whispered as they arrived at a fence that surrounded the women's area. A tiny hole was drilled into the wall, probably by Jiraiya, and it was perfect for looking through.

"Me!" Rock Lee said, moving to the hole and pressing his eye to it. He pulled away quickly, a blush covering his cheeks. "They're naked!" he whispered.

Kiba rolled his eyes. _"I'm engaged, for God's sakes! What the hell do these idiots think they're doing? I mean, maybe when I was younger I would have done something like this...but we're eighteen. They're just being stupid."_

Naruto giggled and moved to look through the hole.

"What's going on here?" came Tsunade's voice. All eight boys jumped a foot in the air, turning to look at the Hokage.

"L-Lady Hokage," Rock Lee stuttered. "We were just...um..."

"Look, I don't even want to know. I left my office and searched the whole village for you all. Luckily, you're all together. Listen, I have witnesses that heard strange noises coming from the hospital last night. I want all of you to go check it out. It could be serious, as I have reports that none of the nurses came home that night. I'm far too busy to check it out myself, so I'm sending all my best available ninja in, a.k.a.: you. The girls were already headed there when I talked to them, but Sakura was inside the hospital last night. I'm worried about her." She sighed. "Just make sure you figure out what's up, okay?"

Naruto looked at her nervously. "Do you think Sakura's alright?" he asked.

Tsunade shrugged. "Like I said, I don't know." She hurried away in the direction of her office.

"Well, I guess the guys' day out is ruined," Neji commented almost happily. "We should head to the hospital."

* * *

Sakura glared at the man sitting across from her, struggling against the ropes binding her. "What the hell are you doing here?" she growled, but was unable to hide the fact that she was shaking nervously, still slightly in shock from the sight of all the dead nurses.

Sasuke sat back in his chair, letting out a relaxing sigh. "What do you think?"

Sakura leaned forward as far as she could. "You have serious problems. And to think...every day Naruto and I visited your grave. And you weren't even dead. What exactly do you think tying me up will accomplish?"

"Naruto will come here, looking for you." He looked at her. "Aren't you interested in how I survived?"

"Not really."

"Hmm...I'll tell you anyway. There was no real me in those fights. Gaara killed a shadow clone."

"I figured as much." She sighed. "So, once Naruto gets here and kicks your ass, I can go?"

"I've gotten stronger."

"So has he."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "We'll see who's stronger, eventually. I'll draw it out for all of you, though. I do enjoy games of cat and mouse, actually."

"You sound just like Orochimaru."

"Good for me." Sasuke sat up suddenly. "Oh, they're all here. Let the fun begin." He leaned forward and kissed her before she could do anything. "I love you," he whispered with a smirk, before making a few hand signs and disappearing.

Almost immediately after he was gone, the door to the room she was in flew open, and Naruto hurried in, followed by all of their friends. "Sakura, are you okay?" he asked, untying her. "We were walking down the hall, and we saw bodies..." He shivered.

"All of the nurses are dead," Shino cut in.

"I know," Sakura said, standing up and looking around at them. "Sasuke killed them."

There was a moment of silence.

Finally, Ino gave her a sympathetic smile, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura, somebody awful did do this, but it wasn't Sasuke. Sasuke's dead. Gaara killed him, remember?"

"He's not dead," Sakura told them, willing them to believe her. "He's back."


	4. Infiltration

There was another pause, in which many of the ninja seemed to have several different reactions. Naruto instantly believed her, and Hinata, Kiba, and Shikamaru all looked like they thought there might be some truth to her statement. The rest looked either uncertain, or were giving her looks that told Sakura they thought she was crazy.

Before anyone could say anything, there was a loud screech that sounded a lot like feedback. They all covered their ears, before the feedback finally ceased and they heard someone clear their throat over the loudspeakers.

"Attention, ninja. This is Uchiha Sasuke, and yes, I am alive. I just thought I'd let you all know that this hospital is officially on lock down. I have used a jutsu to create a force field around the outside. No one can get in...and no one can get out." There was a brief period of laughter, and when it finally faded, Sakura could almost see Sasuke smirking. "Oh, and Naruto...I'm coming." There was a small clicking sound, and then silence.

The other eleven ninja turned to look at Naruto, who was staring in silence at the nearest speaker. One of his arms slid around Sakura's waist, drawing her to him, and his other hand clenched into a fist. "Five minutes of every day, wasted. All the guilt I've felt over the past three years. That was for nothing." He turned to face the ground, wiping one of his eyes with his fist. "This time I'll kill him, and I won't regret it."

He looked up to see everyone staring at him. "Split up into your normal teams," Naruto commanded angrily. "We're searching this place until we find him. If you see Sasuke, let me know..." He looked around, his eyes settling on a cabinet nearby that had the word "Communication" plastered across it. Naruto released Sakura, walking over to the cabinet and opening it roughly. Inside were over ten walkie-talkies. "Use these," he said, handing one to Tenten, Shikamaru, and Shino.

"Naruto are you sure we shouldn't be focusing on a way to get out instead?" Sakura asked nervously.

Naruto spun around to face her so fast that she jumped in surprise. "No. We let him come to us last time, and look what happened. This time, we're going right to him. I'm not letting him touch you again." His eyes glowed red for a fraction of a second, before they returned to normal. Only Sakura saw it.

"Alright. Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee, you go right down the hallway, and then take a right. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino, go right down the hallway and take a left. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji can go left down the hallway and take a right, and Sakura, Sai, and I will go left and then take another left. We'll all meet back here when we've completed our searches. Got it?"

"Yeah," Kiba replied softly. The others were silent. "But Naruto, are you sure we should..."

"GO!" Naruto shouted. They all jumped and quickly fled from the room, readying their weapons. Sai stayed inside with Naruto and Sakura, looking from one of them to the other.

"Um...I would just like to say that I am sorry for last time. I never really mentioned it, but I was away on a mission, so I wasn't there to help..."

"It's okay, Sai," Sakura told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault."

"That may be," Sai replied. "...but this time I will try my hardest to protect my friends. I'll put my life on the line if I have to. I promise."

**(A/N: That's called foreshadowing...hehe...)**

Naruto stalked past them, ignoring the entire exchange and leaving the room without a word. Sakura and Sai hurried after him, heading down the hall and then taking a left.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Sakura asked.

"Anything," Naruto told her. "Anything to signify that Sasuke could be nearby."

Sai scratched his head. "That sure does leave a lot to the imagination."

* * *

Team 8 had been searching for ten minutes, and had yet to find anything.

"Hell no, YOU go in first!" Kiba cried, gesturing towards a room they had yet to check inside.

Shino crossed his arms. "Why should I go first?" he asked quietly. "Maybe Hinata should go in."

Hinata rolled her eyes as Kiba began to protest, activating her Byakugan. "There's no one in there," she told them.

Kiba sighed in relief and they continued down the hall towards the next room. "No offense to the others...but I hope we don't find him. I wonder how he even survived Gaara's Desert Funeral anyway. That should have killed him."

"He didn't survive it," commented Shino, who was currently leading the way.

"Huh?" Kiba asked.

"It was another Shadow Clone."

"...oh."

Hinata stopped suddenly. Kiba and Shino noticed, and also slowed to a halt. "What is it, Hinata?" Kiba questioned.

"I just realized that all I have to do is extend my Byakugan a little, and I can see everything in the area we're supposed to search," Hinata told them.

"Oh yeah!" Kiba replied, grinning.

Hinata seemed to be concentrating for a moment, and then looked around quickly. Afterwards, she deactivated her Byakugan. "Something's weird," she told them.

"What is it?" Shino asked.

"When I use my Byakugan, I get this little pain in my head. And the more I try to use it, the worse it gets. Otherwise, I could probably search this whole building in the blink of an eye. My range only goes so far before I have to stop. But don't worry, I can cover this whole area, and Sasuke's not here."

"Good. We can go back, then. We'll deal with your Byakugan problem later," Shino replied.

* * *

"As youthful as displays of affection are, I was wondering if you two would be interested in stopping..." Lee said nervously, looking over at Neji and Tenten. "Also, I do not think this is the proper time or place..."

Tenten and Neji broke apart quickly, looking at Lee with raised eyebrows. "I already used my Byakugan to search our area. All we've got to do is wait for the others to get back," Neji pointed out, gesturing towards the door to the room, which was closed and locked.

Before Lee could reply, a loud bang resounded from behind the door. From the way the door had rattled, they could tell someone was trying to get in.

"Who do you think it could be?" Tenten whispered.

"Hold on," Neji replied, standing up and activating his Byakugan. With a loud sigh, he walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it. Kiba fell through the doorway instantly, Hinata crashing to the floor on top of him. Shino stood behind them, arms crossed. "I was wondering when you'd figure out you could use your Byakugan," Neji commented, staring down at Hinata.

Kiba groaned, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Thanks for not falling, Shino," he said seriously. Hinata blushed and got off of him, helping Kiba up as Shino stepped into the room, closing the door behind himself and locking it.

"Yeah," Hinata said to Neji. "But when you used it, didn't you feel strange?"

"A little. I think this force field around the hospital is doing something to us. What else could it be?"

"I don't know..."

"Well...no matter what it is, our Byakugan doesn't work as well as normal. We can't rely on it."

Hinata nodded.

"I wonder how long it'll take the others without Byakugan," Tenten mused as everyone else sat back down in various places of the room.

"I don't know, but I hope they get back soon," Lee replied. "Wait a second...the walkie talkie!" He looked at Tenten. "You still have it, right?"

"Oh, yeah." Tenten pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to him. "Here, take it."

* * *

Shikamaru peered around a corner as Ino and Chouji watched him warily. After a moment, he turned to look at them. "I don't see anyone. After this hallway, we'll be done."

Ino sighed, wiping sweat off her forehead. "Good. It's been over half an hour!"

"Shikamaru!" came Lee's voice from the walkie talkie in his hand. "Are you there?"

Shikamaru pressed a button and put the walkie talkie to his mouth. "Yeah, we're here. How are you guys doing?"

"Hinata and Neji used their Byakugan, and both groups are back here already. We're just waiting for you guys and Naruto's group."

"Okay, good," Shikamaru replied. "We've got one more hallway to search in our area, and then we'll be heading back to the room. Hopefully we'll see you in a few minutes."

"Okay. I'll tell the others. See you in a little while." There was a soft buzzing sound, and then the walkie talkie fell silent.

"Alright. Who wants to go first?" Shikamaru asked, taking another peek around the corner and looking down the last hallway they had to check.

"Ladies first!" Chouji cried, shoving Ino around the corner.

"Hey!" Ino cried, glaring at him before turning to face the hallway. She gulped. "Um...how about we all go at the same time?"

"I second that," Shikamaru said, falling into step next to Ino. Chouji followed grudgingly.

"Fine."

* * *

Sakura and Sai watched Naruto nervously as he stomped into room after room loudly and carelessly, checking it for Sasuke and then stomping back out.

"Naruto...don't you think it would be easier to take a quieter approach?" Sakura asked.

"This has worked so far," Naruto replied without looking at her, continuing down their current hall. "Why should I change my strategy?"

"Stomping into various rooms and leaving yourself open to an ambush by someone who wants to kill you isn't much of a strategy," Sai pointed out.

Naruto didn't reply. After repeating the process in one more room, he turned to his teammates. "We're done."

Sakura looked at him with surprise. "Already? That went by fast."

"It's been half an hour," Sai told her, looking at a nearby clock. They turned and followed the hallways back towards the door, turning a corner...

"Shit!" Sakura cursed loudly, running headfirst into Ino and jumping back in surprise. Ino had shouted a similar word, and they both stared at each other, gasping heavily and willing their heart rates to calm down. "You scared me..." Sakura told her.

"Yeah, same here," Ino replied. Shikamaru and Chouji arrived behind her, looking over at the four of them.

"Hey. You guys didn't find anything?" Shikamaru asked.

Sai shook his head. "No."

Shikamaru frowned. "That's odd..."

They headed to the room, preparing to knock on the door, when Naruto's walkie talkie buzzed.

"Naruto, you there?" came Lee's voice.

"Yeah," Naruto replied.

"Hey. Where are you guys?"

Naruto tapped on the door, putting his mouth to the walkie talkie. "Open up."

"Oh!"

The door opened to them, revealing Lee on the other side, holding the walkie talkie in his hand. He shut the door behind the six ninja, locking it once they were inside.

"Looks like everyone's here," Neji commented.

"Yup," Sakura replied. She looked around. "So did anyone find Sasuke?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Everyone shook their heads.

"That's really odd..." Shikamaru said again, shoving his hands into his pockets thoughtfully. "We searched the whole building, but nobody found him..." His eyes widened suddenly. "Sakura, come here," he ordered, pulling her into a corner so the two brains of the group could talk with no one else listening.

"What is it?" Sakura asked him quietly.

Shikamaru looked at the others nervously, finally looking at her. "Um..." He stared at the ground in thought for a second. "Who did I face in the Chounin Exams six years ago, when I eventually forfeited the match because I was out of chakra?"

"Temari...why?" Sakura replied questioningly.

"Good. Listen," Shikamaru whispered, looking over at the rest of the group again, who were now all chatting with each other. "I think...I think Sasuke might be in here, impersonating one of our friends."

"W-What?" Sakura stuttered. "Why do you think that?" She shot everyone else a look, much like Shikamaru had done.

"Think about it. Nobody found him. He could have easily snatched someone away while their teammates weren't looking, and changed himself into an exact clone of them, like how Naruto made clones of Kabuto, you, and Sasuke in the Forest of Death during the Chounin Exams," Shikamaru suggested. His eyes widened as he felt something sharp press into his stomach. Sakura's back was to the others, so they couldn't see it.

"How did you know that?" Sakura muttered, pressing the kunai sharper into him. "How do I know you're not Sasuke?"

"Naruto told me!"

"Not good enough."

"Um...um...okay," Shikamaru whispered, searched through his mind for memories of their past. "When you were eight, you stepped in an ant pile in front of all your friends and ended up getting bites all over your body and swelling up like a balloon," he said quickly. "Ino told me, and Sasuke wouldn't know that."

Sakura frowned, pulling the kunai away and putting it back in her pouch. "Alright. But..." She looked back at the others quickly. "How do we figure out which one it is?"

"Hmm..." Shikamaru tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Damn..." he finally said. "We're going to need some help from the Byakugan. But Neji or Hinata could be Sasuke in disguise. At least one of them has to be themselves, though. The question is, who do we ask?"

They both looked from Hinata, who was looking around at everyone with the usual shy look on her face, to Neji, who had his arms wrapped around Tenten and was engaging in activities Sasuke would surely never do with anyone other than Sakura.

"Neji!" Shikamaru called, hurrying over and pulling Neji away from his girlfriend. "We need your help."

Neji frowned, but followed them into their corner, leaving an angry Tenten behind. "What is it?" he asked quietly.

"What did Lee suggest we do today for our guys' day out?" Shikamaru asked, instantly regretting asking that question in the presence of Sakura.

Neji blushed dark red. "Why do you ask?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Just answer it."

Neji stared down at the ground intently. "Look at girls naked," he finally muttered.

Sakura looked from Neji to Shikamaru. "I don't even want to know."

"He's the real thing," Shikamaru told her.

Sakura nodded, turning to a very confused Neji. "Alright, Neji. We've figured out that based on the fact that no one found Sasuke, he most likely ambushed somebody and took their place without their teammates realizing it. Now we have to figure out who it is."

Neji looked at each of them apprehensively. "How do I know it's not one of you?" he asked.

"We already tested each other," Shikamaru explained. "It has to be one of the others. Activate your Byakugan, and maybe you can sense where Sasuke's chakra is coming from."

Neji nodded, quickly activating it. "Damn..." he said after a moment.

"What is it?" Sakura asked.

"He's definitely in here," Neji told them.

"Shit..." Shikamaru muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought so. Who is it, then?"

"I...can't tell..." Neji mumbled. "Either he's masking his chakra extremely well, or my Byakugan isn't working fully...or a little of both. I can pin it to this room, but otherwise..." he trailed off.

"What should we do?" Sakura asked.

"Well, the way I see it, there are two reasonable options. One, we can tell everyone the situation, which might get Sasuke to reveal himself. But that could also put someone in danger, since we have no idea what he might do. Or, we can pretend nothing is wrong, which would most likely lead to another split up search. That would leave two people alone with the real Sasuke, but would give us more time to figure out which of us he is. In my opinion, the first option would be better, although it's still pretty risky," Shikamaru told them.

Sakura nodded. "I think we should tell them. That way we could also find out if anyone saw something suspicious. What do you think, Neji?"

"Well, we've got three of us from three different teams, we can already ask each other, right? What do you guys think as far as who it could be?"

"I don't know. It could be someone from my team, I suppose, but I didn't spot anything suspicious during our search. But it IS Sasuke..." Shikamaru told them.

"Me neither. But I think if Sasuke really set his mind to it, he could have even replaced Naruto. Actually, that would have been pretty easy, as reckless as Naruto was being..."

"I think it's Shino," Neji said bluntly. "He's been acting strange, and hasn't said much either."

"But Shino never says anything..."

Neji sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I would like to point out that I think Tenten's innocent." His face turned green. "Or... at least I hope she is. Well, who's going to tell everyone, then?"

"I will," Sakura volunteered. The two boys nodded.

"We'll spread ourselves out around the room, so we can be on alert and guard different places, okay?" Shikamaru told them.

They seperated, Neji heading to the left, while Shikamaru went right. Sakura moved to the center of the room, clearing her throat. Everyone stopped talking, turning to look at her.

"Hey, I need to tell you all something," Sakura announced. She looked from Neji to Shikamaru, meeting their eyes quickly before continuing. "After talking to Shikamaru and Neji, we have realized why nobody found Sasuke. He has replaced one of us, and is in this very room right now."


	5. Sasuke Revealed

Sakura, Neji, and Shikamaru all looked around quickly, trying to absorb everyone's reactions at once. As far as they could tell, everyone looked surprised. Shino raised his eyebrows, Sai frowned, Naruto glared at everyone suspiciously, Hinata gasped and Kiba's arms flew around her protectively, Tenten looked at Neji for confirmation, Ino put a hand to her mouth in shock, Lee stood up suddenly and moved into a defensive stance, looking from face to face, and Chouji froze just as he was about to shove a potato chip into his mouth.

"How do you know?" Sai finally asked.

"Neji used his Byakugan to confirm it. Ask Hinata, if she's willing to try it too," Sakura replied, still studying everyone's faces.

"That is...if it really is Hinata..." Neji asked suspiciously. "Only the real Hinata could activate a bloodline trait like the Byakugan."

Hinata rolled her eyes, closing them quickly, and when she opened them, her Byakugan was activated. "Sakura's right. I can sense his chakra."

"I think it's bug boy," Naruto said suddenly, walking towards Shino and stopping in front of him. "Hiding behind the sunglasses all the time...bet you thought Shino was an easy target since he's so mysterious, eh, Sasuke?"

Shino's hand extended slowly towards Naruto. Naruto jumped back quickly. "What do you think you're doing?" he growled.

A small bug crept out of Shino's sleeve, crawling onto his palm and sitting there motionlessly.

Naruto went red. "O-oh...sorry Shino..."

The bug quickly returned to its home, although Shino remained silent.

"Well...everyone's else's bloodline traits would be rather hard to demonstrate," Sakura pointed out. "We'll have to rely on pure logic. Did anyone see anything suspicious while they were searching?"

"Ino," Chouji said suddenly. "Ino was separated from us for a second, right before we met up with your group, Sakura. Sasuke could have ambushed her then."

Ino glared at Chouji, stomping towards him with a growl. "Are you accusing me of being Sasuke?" she exclaimed. "You know what, I think you're the real Sasuke!" Chouji backed away quickly as Shikamaru moved in to separate them.

"Calm down, guys. We don't need chaos at this point. While we argue with each other, Sasuke's going to move in. We can't let him do that."

"Are you saying you don't think your teammates are Sasuke?" Tenten asked, standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

Shikamaru sighed, putting a hand to his forehead. "No, I'm saying we need as little fighting as possible, so we can concentrate."

"Well...what if I think it's you?" Tenten accused.

Neji put a hand on her arm. "Relax, Tenten, it's not him. Sakura and I checked."

Tenten jerked away from his touch, glaring at him. "You seemed to be awfully comfortable talking to Sakura over there!"

"Yeah, Shikamaru, so did you!" Ino accused. "Maybe you're Sasuke!"

"Ino, Tenten, they're not Sasuke, we already checked...Neji can do Byakugan, too..." Sakura started, but Kiba cut her off, glaring at Lee.

"You seemed pretty quiet when we came in, Lee..."

Lee glared back just as angrily. "Well you seemed loud, as usual! So what? Just because I'm quiet doesn't mean I'm Sasuke!" He prodded Kiba in the chest roughly. Across the room, Sai and Chouji were having a similar argument. Shino and Hinata watched their friends anxiously.

A loud whistle ended all speech, and Naruto took a spot next to Sakura in the center of the room, taking his fingers out of his mouth.

"Hey, I don't think Naruto can really whistle like that!" someone started, but Naruto cut them off with another loud whistle.

"Enough! One more accusation from anybody, and we'll all assume they're Sasuke and rip them to bits! Got it?" Naruto called. Everyone nodded, and he let Sakura take over.

"Alright, now that everyone's calm, we're going to narrow this down logically," Sakura told them. Everyone returned to their previously places, and Sakura continued. "We can rule out me, Shikamaru, Neji, Shino, and Hinata...and maybe Tenten. We'll discuss that in a minute. Does anyone want me to explain why, just to clarify?"

There were a few nods, so Sakura took a deep breath. "Listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once. Shikamaru knew things about me that Sasuke wouldn't know. I knew things about Shikamaru that Sasuke wouldn't know. Neji also knew things Sasuke wouldn't know, and he used his Byakugan. Hinata used her Byakugan, and Shino showed that he could control his bugs. That's why all of us are clear. Now, let's discuss Tenten, alright?"

"What about me?" Tenten asked.

"There's a possibility we could mark you off as being clear. Now, we're going to do this in a calm fashion, with a majority vote."

"What's so special about her?" Kiba asked.

"Well..." Sakura was ashamed of herself for having to fight off a blush in this situation. "She engaged in certain...activities...with Neji that I seriously doubt Sasuke would do with him. All in favor of declaring her innocent?" Neji, Rock Lee, and Chouji raised their hands.

"Alright, that's not the majority. Would everyone else like to calmly explain why you didn't vote to clear her?" Sakura asked.

Sai shrugged. "You can never be too careful. That isn't solid proof." Many of the others nodded in agreement, and Tenten crossed her arms and frowned, but remained silent.

"Alright. That vote also had an ulterior motive," Sakura told them with a grin. "The way I see it, Sasuke would want to leave as many people open to be him as possible. Therefore, he wouldn't have voted to clear her. So, for now, Rock Lee and Chouji are off the hook. It isn't solid proof, but for now, it'll have to do. And if we're going to eliminate them, I guess we might as well throw Tenten in there too."

"What!?" Naruto cried. "That's not fair, she didn't get the vote!"

Sakura glared at him. "What was it you said about the next person who argued? I love you to death, Naruto, but you're making yourself look pretty suspicious right now."

Naruto mumbled an apology and looked away.

"Okay, now that we've got it narrowed down a bit more, let's look at who's left. We've got..." Sakura looked around at her comrades' faces. "Ino. Kiba. Sai. Naruto. And...that's it." She paced back and forth for a moment, before stopping suddenly. "Sai...what was the first name you ever called me?"

Sai scratched his neck nervously. "Um...are you sure you want me to..." He paused at the look on Sakura's face. "...ugly."

There were a few scattered snickers, but otherwise the room remained quiet. "Sasuke should reveal himself any time now. Now that we've got it narrowed down to three..." She nodded at Shikamaru and Neji. Neji moved towards Naruto, and Shikamaru began to head towards Ino. Ino batted her eyes at Shikamaru, and he paused for a moment, giving her an uncertain smile. "Um...on second thought, you two switch," Sakura said. Ino frowned as Neji took a spot next to her, and Shikamaru stood next to Naruto.

"Alright, Kiba," Sakura said, taking a step towards the boy, who had Hinata on his lap. "Please move away from Hinata."

Kiba's jaw dropped. "What? You're seriously telling me to get away from my girlfriend?"

"It's a life and death situation, Kiba. It's for Hinata's safety."

"But I would never hurt her, I..."

Before Kiba could finish, Hinata had spun around in his lap and had a kunai pressed to his throat. Kiba coughed quickly, eyes wide and staring at Hinata in fear.

"What? It was Hinata?" Naruto asked, confused. "But I thought she used her Byakugan..."

"No," Shikamaru said suddenly. "It's Kiba."

A small smile spread across Sasuke's face, even though a kunai was pressed to his throat. "What gave it away?" he asked Hinata.

**(A/N: Did you catch it? I think it's pretty easy to figure out, but then again, I wrote it... I'll tell you what it was at the end of the chapter if you don't already know...)**

"What did you do to Kiba? Where is he?!" Hinata growled.

"Hmm...I don't think I'll tell," he replied, flashing her another grin.

"Hinata! Kill him!" Naruto cried, taking a step towards her. Sasuke looked up at Sakura, who was frozen, watching them with wide eyes. He gave her a quick wink, before doing a few hand signs and disappearing from the room.

"Well, that was a bit of a waste of time..." Sai whispered.

Naruto let out a loud shout, glaring down at Hinata, who was now on the verge of tears. "God dammit Hinata! What the hell is your problem!?" he yelled. Hinata looked away uncomfortably. "You had a kunai at his throat! Why didn't you kill him?!"

"I...I was too w-worried about Ki..."

"That's not an excuse!" He raised a fist threateningly, and Hinata shrank away from him in fright.

"Naruto, get away from her!" Sakura exclaimed, shoving him away and rushing to Hinata's side. "How would you feel if I was in Kiba's place?"

Naruto frowned, clearing his throat and looking away as Sakura comforted Hinata. He turned to the others, who were watching him silently. "Listen, if we're trying to kill Sasuke, we're going to need to..."

"What about Kiba?" Shino cut him off.

Naruto stared at him. "What about him?"

Shino raised an eyebrow. "He's my teammate and friend. We need to help him. He could be in danger. Or..."

He trailed off, but the ominous thought still hung in the air.

"That's not important right now." Naruto continued. "What's important is..."

There was a small thump from behind him, and Naruto felt himself being spun around. All of a sudden, his cheek stung, and he blinked to see Hinata standing in front of him, tears streaming down her face. Sakura still stood behind her, gaping at the pair in shock.

"Do you see this?" Hinata sobbed, pulling a ring out of her pocket and sliding it down her finger, showing it to everyone. "This is an engagement ring!" She collapsed on the floor, her cries increasing in volume. "We were supposed to get married!"

Nobody had ever seen the compassionate side of Shino before. In fact, no one even knew he HAD a compassionate side. So of course it was a surprise to everyone when he was the first to rush to Hinata's side, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Shhh...it's okay, Hinata. I'm sure we'll find him. Everything will be alright..."

The room remained silent other than Shino's whispers and Hinata's decreasing sobs, until Hinata was finally calm. She wiped her eyes and stood up, smiling softly at Shino.

"Kiba was going to ask you to be his best man, you know..."

"He IS going to ask me," Shino corrected.

After another brief silence, Naruto cleared his throat. "Well, now that that's taken care of, we can go after Sas..."

"Um...I'm going to look for Kiba," Ino said suddenly.

"Me too," Shikamaru agreed.

"Yeah," Lee added.

"I think I'm going to help Hinata and Shino with this one," Sai commented.

Naruto stared at everyone as they slowly agreed, until finally Sakura was the only one left. He looked at her for a moment, watching her stand up and walk over to him. He could already see the regret in her eyes. "You too?" he asked hoarsely.

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered, putting a palm on his cheek and kissing him lightly. "I hope you'll do the right thing. You're the one Sasuke wants. You should come with us..."

She moved past him, addressing the rest of her friends and getting back to business. "Alright, we're going to need to split into groups again and search the same areas as last time. This time, however, we'll have a different goal: to find and save Kiba. We've all got our walkie talkies, right?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, everyone take the same area as last time. Hinata and Neji: if your areas are both clear when you use your Byakugan, locate the nearest group and help them out. Everyone understand?" There were more nods, and then Sakura glanced back at Naruto, who's back was to her with his head bowed. "Sai...I guess it's just you and me this time," she said quietly.

They exited the room one by one, until Sakura was the last to leave, giving Naruto another sad look as she left. Naruto stared at the door, willing her to come back, but knowing in his heart that she wouldn't.

And then suddenly, she did. Almost shyly, she crept back into the room by herself. Several scenarios played through Naruto's mind. Would she walk right up to him and press her lips to his, following it up with a long declaration of love? Would she tell him that she was wrong to want to rescue Kiba, and that she would follow him to the ends of the Earth if he wanted her too? Would she...

Sakura stopped in front of him, biting her lip and looking up at him nervously. Naruto waited with baited breath, wondering how her apology would go, but keeping his face devoid of expression. He felt a small pressure on his hand, and looked down to see his walkie talkie slipping out of it. Sakura gripped the device tightly, and Naruto returned his eyes to her face.

"I needed this," she whispered.

Naruto felt his heart rip in two.

"You know..." she said, just as quietly. "If you let hate and revenge cloud your judgement...you're just like him." And once again, she left.

* * *

**A/N: Alright, for those of you who were wondering, here is basically how Hinata knew Kiba was really Sasuke:**

**Sasuke called Hinata his girlfriend, while Kiba most likely would have accidently spilled the beans about their engagement, calling her his fiance instead. And that's all there is to it! :)**

**PS: Sorry Naruto's kind of a jerk in this chapter. He'll come around. **


	6. Finding Kiba

"Nope," Neji said after a moment, deactivating his Byakugan and looking at his teammates. "I don't see him."

"We should find the nearest group using our walkie talkies," Lee suggested, taking his out and putting his mouth to it.

Tenten and Neji took a few steps away from him and leaned against the wall, looking at each other as Lee began to converse with someone on the walkie talkie.

Neji sighed. "I can't believe my cousin's getting married..."

Tenten shrugged. "Me neither. But she's growing up, so I guess it had to happen some time, right?"

"Yeah. But I'd rather she was around 40 or something, instead of 18."

"That's a little too old."

"I know..."

Tenten grinned. "Are you jealous of her?"

Neji stared down at her, blinking after a moment. "Why would I want to get married to Kiba?"

Tenten snickered. "That's not what I meant! I mean...are you jealous that she's engaged..." She blushed suddenly, looking away from him. "...and you're not?"

"Tenten, are you proposing to me?"

Tenten jumped, blushing blood red. "What? No! I didn't mean it that way! I just was saying..." She trailed off suddenly, looking up at him shyly. "Unless...you would maybe...want...

"Alright, I just talked to Sakura!" Lee called, walking over to them. "They're the closest, and based on her description of where she and Sai are, I think I can find them."

Neji nodded, motioning for Tenten to follow Lee. She trailed behind them grudgingly, a hand on her forehead. _"I'm so stupid..."_

* * *

"I just got word from Lee that he's going to help Sai and Sakura. That means we should head towards Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. I'll contact them and find out where they are," Shino said.

Hinata nodded, looking around at the walls angrily. Of course Kiba just happened to be in one of areas that the Byakugan couldn't reach, where she and Neji weren't searching. _"If I could just..." _She activated her Byakugan, searching through the walls for anything that looked like it could be Kiba. The hospital was relatively large, and as her sight began to extend past the boundaries she had set for herself, the pain in her head worsened and worsened. But she had to find Kiba. He could be just one room away. She forced her eyes to look farther and farther. Just one room away...just one more room away...

Suddenly, she cried out, grabbing her eyes and falling to the ground.

"Okay, we'll be right..." Shino was saying into his walkie talkie. "Hold on...something's wrong with Hinata!" He knelt down beside her as Hinata removed her hands from her eyes.

"My eyes burn..." she whispered, her Byakugan now deactivated.

"Do you know what's wrong?" Shino asked.

Hinata shook her head, rubbing her eyes lightly. "Byakugan!" she cried suddenly, opening her eyes. Nothing happened. "Byakugan," she tried again. Her eyes still didn't change. "Byakugan?" Hinata asked meekly. "I think...it's...gone."

* * *

"Hey, there you guys are!" Lee cried, reaching Sai and Sakura, who were standing in the middle of a hallway.

"Alright, now that you're here, Neji, can you use your Byakugan?"

"Sure," Neji replied, already looking around. "Okay, as far as I can tell, nothing...wait a second."

"What? What is it?" Sakura asked.

"I can only see the outline, but...it's definitely a person. Short hair, around Kiba's size. He's sitting on the floor, and it looks like he's tied up, because his movements seem jerky and frantic."

"That must be Kiba!" Tenten told him. "That means he's alive!"

"Can you lead us to him?" Sakura asked. Neji nodded, already moving down the hall. It took them a few minutes, but Neji eventually stopped in front of a door.

"He's in there."

"Alright, we need to be careful," Sakura told them. "Kiba's group searched the exact opposite corner of the building compared to this corner, which means Sasuke must have moved him all the way over here for a reason. It could be a trap," She reached for the knob, turning it and opening the door slowly.

Kiba sat in the very middle of the room, just as Neji said. He was tied up, and trying to free himself, but immediately stopped when the door opened. "Guys?" he asked uncertainly. "Is that really you?"

"Yup, it's us," Sakura told him, moving to untie tie him as the others stepping into the room. The door immediately slammed behind them.

Lee jumped, looking at the door nervously. "Did you do that?" he squeaked to Sai.

"No. I didn't."

Sakura got up and tried the door, but it was locked somehow, even though the door was supposed to lock from the inside.

"Hello, Leaf-nin," Sasuke said, appearing in the corner all of a sudden and smirking at them. "New jutsu. I already showed it to Sakura, but I was just wondering what you guys thought,"

"You learned a jutsu to automatically lock doors?" Lee asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Sasuke said dully. "You idiot, I can appear and disappear wherever I want, within a certain range, of course. See?" He disappeared from the corner, reappearing behind Kiba and tapping him on the shoulder. Kiba let out a loud yell, jumping in surprise and hiding behind Sakura.

"Maybe someone should tell Hinata her _fiance _is a wuss," Neji commented as Sasuke returned to his corner.

"You told!?" Kiba cried in Sakura's ear, making her flinch.

"No I didn't, Hinata did! It's a long story, but now isn't exactly the best time to tell you everything."

Sasuke watched them with a smirk on his face, obviously amused. "So this is who the Hokage sent to fight me? Pathetic. You couldn't defeat me three years ago, and you can't defeat me now."

Kiba let out a low growl. "You're all talk. If I had Akamaru with me right now..."

"Mmm, but you don't," Sasuke cut him off, his eyes narrowing. "Well, you're probably all wondering what I'm doing here, in this room, at this very moment, while Naruto's off by himself, and extremely weak and vulnerable."

They all stared at him.

"...I'll tell you anyway. I want a real fight, and now that I've got Naruto here, I'm not going to attack him while he's asleep, or anything like that. Not like last time. I'll prove I can defeat him in an even fight. But right now, it wouldn't be even, as Naruto was pretty much wandering around hopelessly the last time I spied him." He leaned forward and looked at Sakura. "I guess that's what broken hearts do to people."

"Naruto can handle himself," Sakura muttered, ignoring the guilt creeping into her chest.

Sasuke shrugged, looking around at the others. "As fun as it is toying with all of you, I need to have a little chat with Sakura."

Sakura moved to step away from him, but Sasuke appeared next to her, grabbing her and then disappearing just as Tenten flicked a kunai at him. It flew through the air where he had been standing, sticking itself into the wall a second later.

"Dammit!" she cursed, clenching her fists. "How are we supposed to figure out where he went?"

Neji frowned. "I could always try Byakugan. Meanwhile, Lee, you're the only one with a walkie talkie since Sakura has the other one, so try to contact Shino and the others and let them know where we are and what happened." Lee nodded, already holding the walkie talkie up to his mouth. Neji activated his Byakugan, preparing to search the area.

* * *

"Hey, guys," came Lee's voice over Shino's walkie talkie. "Did you all meet up?"

"Yeah, we're all together," Shino replied. "But I have something to tell Neji. Give him the walkie talkie."

"Okay, one second." There was brief pause.

"Hello?" Neji asked.

"Neji, it's Shino. We didn't find anything here."

"I know. We found Kiba. He's alright." He could hear Hinata's cheering in the background, along with some muttering that had to be Shikamaru. "But Sasuke showed up and took Sakura. I doubt he'll hurt her, but we need to find her. Have you seen Naruto, by the way?"

"No. We haven't seen anything or anyone. But listen, we have a problem. I'm not sure how serious it is, although Hinata doesn't seem to mind it so much, as she's busy celebrating the fact that Kiba's alive. Anyway, she tried to use her Byakugan to see too far, and something happened. She can't use it at all now."

"Damn, I was afraid something like this would happen! I need to check on her, let's find a place to meet up..."

"Wait a second, I think I hear something..." Shino looked over at Shikamaru to see the noise was also coming from his walkie talkie. "It sounds like talking..."

"Pretty cool, eh?" the new voice said. Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru all stared down at their walkie talkies with raised eyebrows.

* * *

"Pretty cool, eh?" Sasuke asked, moving his arm in an arc across the room, as though showing it off. "My own little secret base here in the hospital. I just finished making it a few seconds ago."

"All you did was move some furniture around," Sakura said, glaring at him. "This is the room behind the clerk's desk, at the front of the hospital."

"So?" Sasuke asked, sitting down on a chair and crossing his legs comfortably. "Anyway, I need to talk to you about Naruto. You really upset him a little while ago, and trust me, I'm proud of you for that. But I want a fair fight." He looked at her. "Naruto's weak. You're the reason. Fix it, or I'll kill all of your friends. Understand?"

Sakura crossed her arms. "Isn't the grand plan to make me like you? That isn't going to go well if you kill everyone I love."

"I don't care if you like me or not anymore. The new plan is to be with you, and while that would be easier with your consent, it doesn't require it. Getting rid of Naruto is just a little goal I set for myself. After failing last time, I feel like I need to get it done this time." He stood up and walked towards her, stopping right in front of her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm trusting you to do this for me, okay?"

Sakura glared up at him, knocking his arm away. "So, what if I still won't do what you want?"

"What, you're willing to risk everyone else's lives in order to save Naruto's? Well, if you're dumb enough to let me kill all your friends, then I guess I could let Naruto live, despite my goal to kill him. But you'd still come with me, anyway, so like I said, it'd be a stupid choice." Sasuke shrugged and moved away from her. "So what's your choice?"

Sakura didn't answer, instead raising the walkie talkie in her hand up to chest level. Sasuke smiled. "Aw, you're using walkie talkies to communicate? How cute."

Sakura smirked at him, releasing the button on the side of the walkie talkie, which she had been holding down with her thumb.

Sasuke's expression was stuck between glaring at her, and gaping in surprise. "You..." He finally settled on a grin. "Clever. Tell Naruto I'll be waiting for him on the opposite side of the building. Assuming you make the right decision."

Hurried footsteps could be heard coming towards them from different directions, and Sasuke gave her another wink, before disappearing. Almost immediately afterwards, Sai, Kiba, Tenten, Neji, and Lee arrived from one direction, and Shikamaru, Shino, Hinata, Ino, and Chouji arrived from the other.

"Damn, we missed him!" Kiba exclaimed, before his eyes widened and he was tackled to the ground be a sobbing Hinata.

"Kiba!"

"Oh, hey Hinata! It's okay, I'm fine!" he exclaimed, grinning as he sat up. "But why'd you tell them about...you know..."

"I got a little upset..." Hinata started, sniffing and wiping tears out of her eyes.

"She was the one who figured out that Sasuke replaced you," Neji told Kiba.

"I should've known she would," Kiba replied, standing up and pulling Hinata up with him. "What did he do that gave it away?"

"Um...basically he DIDN'T screw up," Hinata muttered.

Kiba's shoulders sank.

"I love you too, Hinata."


	7. The Plan

"Alright, now that you're here, Hinata, I need to check your eyes," Neji said to his cousin, stepping in front of her. Hinata nodded, and Neji began to inspect them.

"So Sakura...what are you going to do?" Chouji asked nervously.

Sakura bit her lip as even Neji turned to look at her.

"Are you really going to let us all die?" Ino added.

"I...I don't know..." Sakura admitted. "I believe in Naruto and everything...but from what I've seen, I'm not sure he's strong enough to beat Sasuke. If they fight, he'll probably die. Basically, Sasuke's making me choose between all of you, and Naruto."

"There must be some way you can make sure none of us die," Shikamaru told her, already kneeling down on the ground and letting his hands come together to form an O. He closed his eyes in thought, and Neji went back to inspecting Hinata as the others stared at Shikamaru.

"I was afraid of this," Neji told her. "My father told me about it a long time ago. Overusing your Byakugan. You shouldn't lose it permanently, but it'll most likely be gone for at least a week. Normally the Byakugan is almost impossible to overuse, but because of this force field, just the slightest mistake and it could be gone."

Hinata sighed, avoiding Neji's eyes. "I'm sorry, Neji. I was trying to find Kiba..."

At that moment, she was cut off by Shikamaru.

"We have to find a way to make Naruto happy again, so he'll be back to full fighting potential, without him actually being happy again...if that makes sense," he muttered.

"But it _doesn't _make sense..." Tenten told him.

Shikamaru's eyes opened suddenly. "I..." He frowned. "...I can't think of a solution."

There was a moment of silence.

"You...can't?" Lee asked.

"But Shikamaru...you always know what to do..." Chouji said.

"I know. But no matter what, someone's going to die. If Sakura does what Sasuke wants, Naruto will fight him and get killed. If she doesn't, one of us will die for it. Somehow, we would have to make Sasuke happy without doing what he wants, which is impossible in this situation unless we just hand Sakura over and beg for mercy. I don't know what to do."

Sai stepped forward suddenly, and everyone turned to look at him. "I do."

* * *

Naruto wandered the halls silently, a kunai gripped in each hand. He knew Sakura cared about their friends, but if he could kill Sasuke, they could easily find Kiba and get out of the hospital. Once Sasuke was dead, Sakura would see that he had been right all along. He was sure of it.

He heard footsteps, and froze in his tracks. Surely Sasuke wouldn't make that much noise...

"Naruto! We finally found you!"

He knew that voice. But at this point, he wasn't really sure whether he wanted to hear it or not.

He turned around to see Sakura slide to a stop in front of him, everyone else right behind her.

"Sakura, I..."

Sakura cut him off hurriedly. "There's no time to argue, okay? Listen, Naruto, Sasuke wants a fair fight with you, and says that apparently you're really upset right now, and I should cheer you up so that you'll fight better. If I don't, he says he'll kill all of our friends, one by one."

Naruto stared at her for a moment, before frowning. "I'm fine. Tell Sasuke I'm ready to fight him," he replied without a trace of emotion.

"You can't fight him. You'll die," Sakura replied anxiously.

Naruto glared at her. "What, you don't believe in me, now?"

"He's too strong. What we need to do is buy more time and get out of here. We need your help, otherwise he'll end up killing us all, other than me."

"I want to fight him," Naruto replied in the same voice, gripping his kunai tighter.

There was a long pause.

"You know what, Naruto? ...I think you're acting like a real jackass," Kiba hissed suddenly.

Naruto looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I know you want to kill Sasuke so that you can save us, but can you listen to your girlfriend for just one second? You don't know how much your teammates care about you, as well as the rest of us. You won't even listen to our plan. Maybe if you did, you'd come to your senses and see what's really important: getting out of here. After that is when we should focus on Sasuke; after we get help. Do you know how hard it would be to kill him by yourself?"

Naruto remained silent, so Kiba continued. "We're already making some sacrifices just to get the hell out of this hospital! Sai's even..." He trailed off, shaking his head and looking away from Naruto. "How many people have to die to make you change your mind? I know you want to kill Sasuke, and that's okay. He's the cause of all this. But just wait until the people you care about are safe. And I don't mean me. I'm going to help you kill him, I swear it. But what about Sakura? And I know damn well I don't want Hinata to die!"

Naruto stared at Kiba, who took a deep breath and stared back at him just as intensly.

After a moment, Naruto scratched his head nervously, giving the group a guilty look. "Okay. Let's get everyone out of here first. Then we'll take down Sasuke."

Everyone grinned at him. "Alright, let's rock this jackass's world," Kiba said, clapping Naruto on the back.

"We need to head towards the front of the building," Sakura told Naruto. "We're going to try and destroy that force field."

"But won't Sasuke come after us?" Naruto asked.

"We've got a plan to cover that," Sakura told him, frowning slightly.

"Well, what is it?" Naruto asked anxiously, noticing her expression.

Sakura looked at him sadly, leaning forward and whispering something in his ear.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked around at the group. It was then that he noticed Sai wasn't with them.


	8. Buying Time

Sasuke stood in the center of a hallway, pacing back and forth impatiently. He stopped suddenly, as the unmistakable sound of footsteps approached, looking in the direction of the noise.

Sasuke smirked as a boy his age with blonde hair turned a corner, stopping right in front of him. "You're here."

Naruto stared back at him. "Yup. And I'm ready to fight."

* * *

"And you just let him go?" Naruto cried, following Sakura down a hallway towards the front of the building.

"I couldn't change his mind!" Sakura replied, looking behind her to make sure the others weren't straggling. "He wanted to buy us some time!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "I want to go help him!"

"No! We need all the help we can get to take down this force field while he's buying us some time. Hopefully, once Neji gets a good look at it he can figure out how to destroy it. Then we can get out of here and go for help!"

Naruto growled angrily, but didn't argue.

They reached the front doors to the hospital, throwing them open and stepping outside. There was a large, red, solid wall starting about ten feet away, and it headed up above them, finally curving in an arc to show that it was a bubble covering them.

"I wonder if there's anyone on the other side..." Chouji muttered. Neji activated his Byakugan.

"I can't see through it," he said after a moment. "It could be indestructible, for all we know."

"Well...all we can do is attack it!" Kiba exclaimed, rushing forward before anyone could reply. After a dramatic charge, he threw a punch at the wall...and promptly burst into tears, shaking his hand quickly. "Ow ow ow ow ow!"

Neji shook his head, looking away from Kiba and giving Hinata a disapproving look. Hinata shrugged guiltily.

"Alright," Neji said. "I don't know what it'll take to destroy the wall, but we've got to give it everything we've got!"

Many loud clanging sounds were heard as everyone drew a kunai, throwing it effortlessly. The wall took no damage.

Everyone immediately split up, preparing their attacks.

"We've never faced anything like this before!" Shikamaru cried to Sakura over the loud banging noises. "Both Ino and I are powerless...and so is Tenten! We won't be able to do any damage!"

"Then help everyone else!" Sakura shouted back, gathering chakra in her fist. "You're a genius! Tell them where to attack, and what to do!"

Shikamaru nodded, and ran to pass her message on to Tenten and Ino.

Chouji was already rolled up in a giant ball, hitting the wall repeatedly, while Neji, Naruto, Rock Lee and Hinata attacked it directly with their fists. Ino, Shikamaru, and Tenten moved around, directing attacks, while Kiba tried his best to do Wolf Fang Over Fang without Akamaru. Shino was directing his bugs to climb all over the wall, and as Sakura watched him, and idea formed in her mind.

"Shino!" she called out. He turned to look at her, ceasing his movements for a moment. "Your bugs can sense chakra, right? Make them find out which part of the wall is weakest!" Shino nodded, looking away from her to focus on his bugs.

"Alright, guys! We're gonna take this thing out!"

* * *

It had been thirty minutes since the fight had started.

Kunai clanged, shuriken whooshed as they flew by ears, and hand signs were being formed so quickly that they were hardly seen. Sasuke sent a ball of fire flying forward, but the blonde-haired ninja quickly dodged it, sending a kunai right towards Sasuke's face.

Sasuke disappeared in a flash, appearing right behind his opponent. "You're no match for me," he whispered smugly, breathing just enough fire out to singe the blonde's neck.

Naruto gripped the back of his neck tightly, gritting his teeth, and Sasuke quickly reappeared in front of him.

"Well, this fight is actually going to be shorter than I thought," Sasuke noted, knocking a surprised Naruto down and standing over him. "Too bad you're too weak to even put up a good fight. I guess you really are a loser, after all."

"No...we will win in the end..." Naruto told him, nodding fiercely. "Naruto will kill you."

"Speaking of yourself in third person now, eh?" Sasuke asked. "Well, I guess if that's how you want to die talking, I'm in no position to correct you." He withdrew a kunai from his pouch, twirling it around his finger. "Recognize this kunai?" he asked calmly. "It's the same one you stabbed me with three years ago. I recovered it from the hospital after the Hokage pulled it out of you. This has been through both of our bodies..." His eyes narrowed. "And now it's about to go through yours one last time..." He pounced forward, shoving the kunai right through Naruto's chest, but at the same time he felt a sharp pain somewhere near his wrist. He looked down.

"God dammit!" He looked back up at Naruto's face to see blood trickle out of the corner of his mouth, a kunai clutched in the blonde's hand as he slumped over on the ground. "Even in the end, you still find some way to ruin my day...you little bastard..."

Sasuke examined his dismembered hand carefully. "My hand's been cut clean off, and I doubt I'll be able to reattach it. And I can only use my eyes and tai-jutsu now..." He shook his head disappointingly. "I suppose I'll worry about that later. It won't be much of a problem now that Naruto's gone. Now to kill all Naruto's little friends, take Sakura, and..."

He raised his head at the sound of a loud poof, and focused his eyes on the white cloud hovering around Naruto's body. It faded, revealing someone that didn't look like Naruto at all. Sai's motionless body lay before him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "That other kid..." He shook his head. "What a fool." Sasuke sighed, standing up and looking down at his wrist again. "How the hell am I supposed to fight Naruto with one hand?" He shook his head again. "Enough fooling around. I'll just take Sakura, and go."

* * *

"Keep hitting that part with all you've got!" Sakura cried, pointing at a spot in the wall where Shino's bugs were all quickly moving away. "That's the wall's weakest point!"

Immediately everyone converged on that point, attacking it relentlessly until they had almost no energy. Naruto dealt a particularly heavy blow with a punch, and a barely visible crack appeared. "That's it! It's cracking! Keep hitting it!" Sakura exclaimed.

"I'm too tired..." Kiba mumbled. "You haven't even done anything..."

Sakura glared at him. "Just wait a second, I will. One more minute and we'll be out of here!"

Chouji let out a loud yell, and everyone cleared out of the way as he inflated himself, rolling towards the wall and smashing into it with a loud bang. The crack lengthened, stretching all the way down the side of the wall.

"Alright! Out of the way!"

Chouji returned to normal, and Sakura took her place a few feet away from the wall, gathering chakra in her fists.

"Sakura, what are you going to do?" Naruto asked her.

"I'm giving it everything I've got!" Sakura replied. Her hands glowed brighter than Naruto had ever seen them before, and with a loud growl, she charged forward, her fist connecting with the wall with an earth-shattering crash. Tiny cracks spread out along the bigger crack, and with a loud rumble, a part of the wall fell away, leaving a gaping hole just big enough for someone to crawl through.

It was time to escape.


	9. Tracking Sasuke

The hole was just big under for the ninja to fit under if they ducked.

"Go, go, go!" Sakura cried, shoving Hinata through as a dull noise reached her ears. She recognized it immediately. Voices.

Hinata gasped when she got through the hole, straightening up to see nearly the whole village staring at her with wide eyes.

A crowd had formed outside the force field, and just as Kiba ducked through to stand next to Hinata, the quick pounding sound of someone's feet against ground caused everyone's heads to turn.

Tsunade ran up to the crowd, breathing heavily. "Everyone, move! Get back to your houses!" she exclaimed, breathing heavily through her words. The villagers quickly moved to obey her orders.

Both Chouji and Shino were out by now, and as Ino and Shikamaru hurried to follow, Tsunade addressed them all, worry etched into her features. "What happened to all of you? I came as soon as I saw the crowd through my window..."

"There's no time to explain now," Neji muttered, ducking through the hole and helping Tenten through after himself. "The short version is that Sasuke didn't really die, and he's inside. He's gotten a lot stronger."

Tsunade's breath caught in her throat. "That can't be possible..."

"It's true!" Rock Lee exclaimed, arriving with the rest of the group. Tsunade saw Naruto begin to duck under the hole, his hand gripping Sakura's tightly as he moved.

"Where's Sai?" Tsunade asked, shaking her head to clear it of the shock.

"He's the reason we could destroy the force field," Naruto said sadly. "He bought us some time."

Naruto started to say something else, but he gasped in surprise as Sakura's hand was ripped from his. The force of it pulled Naruto back through the hole, and everyone spun around to stare at the scene before them.

Sasuke had a kunai in one hand, and it was held to Sakura's neck. She was pressed up against the front of him, shielding his body from view, and his other hand...

Every pair of eyes flew to where Sasuke's hand should be. Instead, the arm that was encircling Sakura's body, keeping her trapped, ended at the wrist. A bandage covered most of Sasuke's arm, but it didn't leave much to imagination.

Naruto stared at them with wide eyes, gasping loudly when Sakura whimpered, a small trail of blood appearing and running down her neck. Before anyone could react, Sasuke bid them a quick, "Goodbye", and leapt into the air, Sakura still clutched against him. A scream tore from her throat as they disappeared off into the distance.

Naruto growled, crouching into a position to jump, but a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Stay here, Naruto," Tsunade told him seriously. "I've sat back and watched long enough."

"I'm going after them," Naruto replied. "We're wasting time."

"Then we'll go together."

"I'll come too," Kiba started, taking a step towards them. "You stay here, Hinata."

Hinata's protests were drowned out by Tsunade's. "No, you all have helped enough. I'll go with Naruto."

Naruto nodded next to her. "Yeah. And Sai should come t..."

He froze mid-sentence, remembering Sasuke's dismembered hand. A bitter smile played on his lips. "Good job, Sai."

"Wait a second, you really might need our hel..." Tenten started.

Before she could finish her sentence, Tsunade and Naruto were gone.

The others stood there in silence. "Well...what the hell are we supposed to do now?" Ino asked. "They need help."

"Well...maybe the Hokage will be able to handle it," Hinata suggested nervously.

Chouji nodded next to her. "Hinata's right. Lady Hokage is more than capable of handling something like this. We need to worry about the villagers right now. And..." He trailed off, and everyone stared at him.

"...and we should go get Sai," Shikamaru finished.

Shino looked around at them all through his sunglasses, and as they all turned to reenter the hospital, he gathered chakra in his feet, and was up in the air before anyone had noticed he was gone.

* * *

"There," Tsunade whispered, pointing at a spot ahead of them, where a shadow had just been moving moments before. They increased their pace, two pairs of fists clenched in determination. "Watch out for traps," Tsunade warned.

Naruto was reminded of the time he had chased Sasuke when he had deserted the village, six years ago. He frowned, remembering the promise he had made to Sakura. It was something he hadn't considered since they had started dating. Did the promise to bring Sasuke back still apply? He had thought that Sakura only wanted Sasuke back so she could be with him, but maybe there had been more to it than that. They had gone three years thinking Sasuke was dead, and she hadn't seemed to hold him in contempt for anything. But now that he thought about it...

He shook his head to clear his mind when the shadow reappeared many yards ahead, focusing his mind on catching up to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Watch out!" Tsunade cried suddenly, and Naruto had to dive out of the way to avoid the paper bomb that exploded on a nearby tree. His feet pounded against a lower branch, and he propelled himself up higher into the air, becoming even with Tsunade again. "Focus, Naruto. If you're not careful, you'll be killed before we even reach Sasuke."

Naruto gulped nervously, but nodded at her, returning his gaze to the shadow that seemed to get farther and farther away with every second. He increased his pace, and heard Tsunade accelerate behind him. She muttered something, and Naruto heard a whizzing noise, and something flew by his ear. It was a shuriken, he realized, and it was headed right towards the shadow. With a small poofing noise, the shadow disappeared in a white cloud, and Tsunade cursed, slowing to a stop. Naruto froze next to her, staring at the spot where the shadow had been.

"It was a shadow clone," Tsunade growled.

"But we've been following it for hours!" Naruto exclaimed. "Why didn't you try that earlier?"

"I didn't think about it until just now," Tsunade replied, glaring at him. "It doesn't matter anyway. The fact is, we don't know where Sasuke is anymore, and we have no means of finding him."

"Well what the hell are we going to do?!" Naruto cried. "We can't just let him take Sakura! Do you have any idea what he'll..." He trailed off, staring, horrified, into space. His voice lowered to a whisper. "...what he'll _do _to her?"

Tsunade closed her eyes calmly, taking a deep breath. "Calm down, Naruto. We'll find her. We just need to find out _how_."

A bush rustled nearby, and Tsunade was immediately on alert, flicking a kunai into the bush. A large wall of bugs appeared, blocking the kunai. It fell to the ground with a clatter, and Shino stepped out of the bushes, dusting himself off.

"Shino! What are you doing here? We told you to stay!" Naruto yelled.

"I've been tracking you this whole time," Shino explained. "I can help you find the real Sasuke."

Naruto's ears perked up. "How?"

"Back at the hospital, I planted my female bug on the force field. When Sasuke grabbed Sakura, it leaped down onto Sasuke's shoulder. Unless he's noticed it, it should still be there."

"And you can use that to find Sasuke?" Tsunade asked.

Shino nodded.

"Alright, then let's get going," Tsunade replied. Shino lead the way.


	10. Mangekyo Sharingan

"Where the hell are these _fucking _bugs leading us?" Naruto growled under his breath, but Shino heard him clearly.

"You got way off track, and he gained some ground. We won't catch up easily."

Naruto growled again, clenching his fists, but he didn't reply.

* * *

"He's resting for the night," Shino said suddenly, stopping on a tree branch and staring at his bugs silently, as if communicating with them. Naruto, who had been directly behind him, collided into the back of Shino and sent him flying off the tree branch. Shino's bugs formed a quick net below him, and he landed on his back, glaring up at Naruto behind his sunglasses. "What the hell was that for?"

"You stopped too quickly. I couldn't slow down," Naruto told him, unable to hide his smirk.

"Asshole..." muttered the normally calm Shino under his breath.

"We should take a rest here, then. We all need some sleep," Tsunade said, appearing next to Naruto and looking down at Shino, who nodded in agreement.

"No!" Naruto cried automatically. "We have to keep going until we find them!"

"They'll make another stop eventually," Tsunade replied evenly. "You don't think this is tough for me too? Sakura was my apprentice for three years, Naruto. I left the village in chaos to come with you. I want to find her just as much as you do."

"Then act like it!" Naruto exclaimed. "I don't need to rest! I'll go by myself if I have to!"

"You don't know which way to go," Shino pointed out, letting his bugs drop him onto the ground softly. He examined the clearing they were in, finally nodding his head. "This'll do. I'll go get firewood."

"We don't need any damn firewood," Naruto told him. "because we're not staying here."

"You'll get lost if you leave," Shino replied absentmindedly, reaching for a small log he had spotted.

Tsunade landed on the ground next to Shino, giving Naruto a pointed look. "Sasuke can hardly fight. All he can do is run, now. Eventually, we'll catch him, you know."

"There are plenty of things he could do between now and then," Naruto growled.

"We're staying," Tsunade replied, ignoring his insinuation. "Whether you like it or not."

* * *

"There's really no point in that, you know," Sasuke commented dully, looking over at Sakura.

She went limp with defeat, realizing that the chakra strings only tightened if she fought against them. Her arms were tied against her torso, and both of her ankles had a separate set of chakra strings tied around them. She rolled over on her side, looking in the opposite direction from the man that had kidnapped her.

Sasuke was laid out comfortably on a sleeping bag, staring up at the night sky with his hands crossed behind his head. "We'll be home tomorrow," he told Sakura.

"H-home?" Sakura asked, letting her curiosity overcome her fright. There was still a small part of her that clung to the old Sasuke. The one that hadn't killed Sai.

"Remember Orochimaru's old hideout? The one you both found me at so long ago?"

Although it had been three years, Sakura remembered it clearly. It had been the first time she'd seen the new Sasuke. "Naruto knows where that is."

"Thus, that's exactly where he'll expect me to be. And using that logic, he won't think I'm there. It's too predictable. It'll be the last place he checks." He felt something tickle his shoulder, and he scratched at it involuntarily. "That's why we're staying there."

"Eventually he'll come."

"By the time he does..." Sasuke looked over at her, but her back was still to him. "...you won't want to leave."

Sakura shuddered at his tone, but her jaw remained set. "Bull shit."

Sasuke sighed, and Sakura heard him stand up. His footsteps got louder with each second, and pretty soon she felt his presence behind her.

Strong arms hooked around her (one missing a hand), lifting her up off the ground gently, and before Sakura could react, Sasuke had spun her around, and their faces were so close that their noses were almost touching.

"Get away from me," Sakura growled, hiding her surprise with alarming ease.

"I mean well," Sasuke replied simply, his breath tickling her face.

"I don't care what the hell you mean," Sakura replied angrily, glaring into his eyes.

Mistake. Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan activated almost instantly, and Sakura was thrown into the alternate world that meant three straight days of torture.

But this was a different kind of torture. Sakura looked down at her own hands slowly, noting that everything in this world seemed to be moving in slow motion. She didn't feel any pain.

The soft tapping nearby warned her of the approaching footsteps, and she looked up as quickly as this world would allow. It was Sasuke.

Suddenly, she couldn't move. Her brain sent desperate signals to her legs, willing herself to run, but nothing happened. They weren't responding.

Sasuke stopped in front of her, smiling calmly. Sakura wondered frantically why he could move at a normal speed, and what exactly was going on.

And then he was peeling his shirt off, and Sakura realized exactly where this was going. Her eyes widened, and her hurried attempts at moving doubled.

It was no use. Sasuke removed his pants next, the calm smile replaced with a smoldering smirk. Sakura tried to scream, but her lips wouldn't move, and no sound came out. Sasuke finished with his own clothes, and all Sakura could do was watch helplessly as he started on her own shirt.

* * *

When the jutsu finally faded, Sakura cried out in surprise, collapsing backwards on the cold ground and shutting her eyes, curling herself into a ball defensively. She was shivering all over, and heard Sasuke chuckle from somewhere above her. "Was it really that bad? It only lasted a few seconds for me."

Tears slid out from beneath her eyelids, and Sakura continued to tremble, ignoring whatever other things Sasuke continued to say. Three days. For her, it had been three days.

She spoke the first word that entered her mind.

"Naruto."

She could do nothing to save herself now. All she could do was avoid looking into Sasuke's eyes again, and pray that Naruto found her before Sasuke decided to try the real thing.


	11. Welcome Home

Sasuke sat on the ground silently, his knees folded up in front of his chest. His elbows were placed on top of them, and his chin rested on his flat palms. He stared up at the stars for another moment, before sighing and looking over at Sakura.

She still laid on the ground right where he had left her, her back to him once again, and for a moment Sasuke thought she might be sleeping. Then he noticed the faint trembling of her body, and discarded that theory. _"Maybe I overdid it a bit..."_

He stood up quietly, walking over to Sakura and then stepping over her. He knelt down beside her, noting how wide her eyes were, before poking her lightly with the arm that had a hand missing. "Sakura?" Her eyes didn't even move, and Sasuke frowned. "Damn. You're in shock, aren't you?" He stood up, scratching the back of his head anxiously, before picking Sakura up with one hand and throwing her over his shoulder.

Sasuke carried Sakura back to his sleeping back, slipping inside and then maneuvering her into it next to him. He wrapped his arms around her as best as he could, shutting his eyes tightly and hoping that maybe this would comfort her in some way. After a moment, he opened one, an annoyed expression on his face.

"I can't sleep with you shaking like that."

* * *

Naruto frowned, looking around himself with aggravation. Shino and Tsunade were already asleep, and a faint snoring sound was coming from the Hokage's direction. _"How can they even sleep right now?" _he thought to himself. _"Sakura's in danger!" _

He glanced up at the sky, hoping to see anything that would signify nearby life. A little smoke would've been nice. But there was nothing. The moon was full in the sky, lighting up the ground around Naruto. He turned to look at his comrades, watching Shino as he slept silently. A few of Shino's bugs crawled around Shino skittishly, as though they felt the same as Naruto did about going to find Sakura.

Naruto grinned. He had an idea.

The shinobi crept over to Shino silently, crouching down and picking a small spider up off of the ground, letting it rest on his index finger. "Hey, little buddy," he whispered to the bug, raising his finger to eye level. "Wanna lead me to your female? Wanna help me find Sakura?" He felt extremely stupid for talking to a spider, but hey, he was desperate.

The spider sat on his finger motionlessly, and Naruto watched it with baited breath. After a moment, he saw something on the front of the spider spread out, and suddenly it sank its fangs into his finger.

"OWWWWW!" he yelled, flinging his finger in different directions. Shino and Tsunade sat up instantly, and the spider flew off of Naruto's finger, straight into Tsunade's open mouth.

Naruto and Shino had never heard a louder scream in their entire lives, but to Naruto's pleasure, it definitely woke everyone up.

* * *

Sasuke's eyes opened slowly when he heard his watch beep, and looking down at it, he saw that it was a little after midnight. _"Perfect. Time to go."_

He rolled over onto his side, facing Sakura, who's eyes had slid shut by now. Sasuke smiled softly. _"Good, when she wakes up, she should be okay."_

He didn't bother taking his sleeping bag with him now; they would be home in a few hours anyway. Instead, he scooped Sakura up as gently as he could, unbound the chakra strings from around her, and without waking her up, took off back into the woods.

* * *

"I'm not tired anymore. We've had enough sleep anyway, I suppose," Shino commented, rubbing the back of his head.

Naruto nodded in agreement, looking over at Tsunade. "Does that mean we can go now?"

Tsunade rubbed her eyes, but mumbled, "Yeah, let's go. Maybe Sasuke's still asleep."

Shino stuck out his arms and let the bugs travel out of his sleeves, forming a large mob. Naruto and Tsunade kept their distances this time.

"Alright, let's go."

The bugs led them up into the air, and the three shinobi leaped onto the nearest tree branch, following them through the woods.

* * *

Sakura began to stir as the sun was starting to rise into the sky. She heard a faint murmer of, "We're here", and frowned, realizing that she was being carried by someone, and wondered vaguely who it was. She felt she recognized the voice, but she was still half-asleep, and decided to just trust that she wasn't in any danger. After all, if the person was an enemy, wouldn't she be dead by now?

She smiled slightly. It was probably Naruto. Most likely they had gone on some mission with Sai and Kakashi, and she had gotten herself hurt again. Now Naruto was carrying her back to the village, and they had just arrived. She pressed herself lovingly against the warm body with half-closed eyes, and smiled serenely when she felt the person's muscles tighten nervously. It had to be Naruto. Only he would get so nervous from just the slightest touch from his own girlfriend.

Her eyes were completely shut now, but from the visible orange glare on the inside of her eyelids, she could tell that the sun was out. The person carrying her was still walking, and suddenly, her eyelids cooled and the orange turned to black.

Sakura frowned to herself, wondering why they had gone inside, and why no one had greeted them at the entrance to the village. And why did she only hear one pair of footsteps?

Her eyes shot open, and her entire world came crashing down around her. Sai was dead. Naruto was gone. And she was being carried by Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke must have felt her muscles tense up, for he clenched her tightly against him so she couldn't free herself. He knew she didn't have the strength anyway. She was recovering from shock.

As she began to struggle in his arms, Sakura realized how futile it was to fight. Just her arms alone felt like they weighed a ton each. It was impossible to lift them, she was so tired. Instead, she looked around slowly, trying to memorize how they had gotten in, so she could escape later on. But every wall, every floor, and every door looked exactly the same, and it was impossible to find anything different that she could look for later on. She would just have to rely on luck, and hope she would choose the right pathway.

After a few more minutes of walking, Sakura felt Sasuke adjust her, and then suddenly she was lying on a soft matress, staring up at the ceiling above her. Sasuke leaned over her, his face appearing in her line of sight. "Welcome home," he told her, giving her a genuine smile. Sakura used every bit of energy she had to shoot a line of spit right into his face. Sasuke frowned, wiping it off and then leaving the room without even bothering to tie her up.

_"I guess he doesn't think I have the energy to move," _Sakura inferred with a scowl. _"Well, he's right."_

Finding that she could move her neck if she took it slowly, Sakura glanced to her right, sighing in defeat when she realized she was lying on a bed made for two people, instead of one. Nothing could surprise her at this point.

_"I might as well just give up hope. Nobody can save me now. Not even Naruto. He probably doesn't even know where I am..."_

* * *

"There?" Naruto repeated, eyebrows raised, his hands twitching anxiously at the thought of being so close to finding Sakura. Tsunade and Shino stared at the large building next to them.

"There," Shino confirmed for a second time. "Have you been here before?"

"Yeah. This was Orochimaru's old hideout. I would've never expected him to be here."

"Maybe that was the whole idea," Tsunade guessed. "At any rate, we should save Sakura as soon as possible. Let's head inside." Two nods punctuated her sentence, and the three ninja entered the building silently.


	12. Escape

Sasuke sat on a chair in the central room of the building, arms crossed in front of him. He stared straight ahead silently, deep in thought. Now that he had Sakura, and they were well-hidden, what was he supposed to do next? He figured maybe it was time to start repopulating his clan, but Sakura would probably need some convincing...

He scratched his chin in thought, his mind settling on the girl that he had spent three years thinking about and training for. _"What am I missing? I'm stronger than him, I'm smarter than him...it's always been that way. I'm definitely better looking. What does Naruto have that I don't? Why does Sakura love him instead of me?" _He had spent hours contemplating these questions, and could only come to one conclusion. _"I bet it's because I left the village. For two years, the only person she probably spent any time with was Naruto. So they got closer. But now it's just me and her. Now we're going to be the ones that get closer, while Naruto'll go off by himself and be depressed for the rest of his life. Like I was. This time I'll be the one that's happy."_

Sasuke felt something tickle his shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time in the past two days, and he scratched at it roughly without looking down. Suddenly, his ears perked up, and he leaned forward, tilting his head to the side inquisitively. _"Footsteps."_

Normal ears wouldn't have been able to pick up the almost silent noises, but Sasuke had spent his last few years training hard, and every single one of his senses were as sharp as a tack. _"It can't be...they couldn't have found us...not this quickly..." _His eyes widened, and he looked down at his shoulder hastily. There was nothing visibly wrong, but Sasuke practically ripped his shirt in half trying to get it off, removing it to reveal a small bug crawling on his shoulder. A female bug.

* * *

Sakura had just gone back to sleep when she felt herself being lifted up again. This time she was awake enough to realize it had to be Sasuke. "What are you doing?" she asked, forgetting her fear in favor of curiosity.

"Be quiet," Sasuke whispered, tightening his grip on her. Something about his tone made Sakura listen to him. "I swear, if you make any noise..."

* * *

"Are your bugs still tracking the female?" Naruto whispered to Shino as they moved down the hallway as quietly as they could.

"Yes. They seem to be in distress, too. We must be getting close."

"But what if Sakura's not with Sasuke?" Tsunade asked. Naruto frowned. He hadn't thought of that.

"Then we'll have to make him tell us where she is." Shino halted as they reached the end of the hallway, peeking around the corner quickly. He turned back to Naruto and Tsunade, adjusting his sunglasses. "The bugs sense the female just down this next hallway. We should be close."

They nodded, and Tsunade and Naruto followed him around the corner, slowing their pace to decrease the volume of their footsteps. The bugs swarmed tightly together suddenly, a loud buzz emitting from them. "No, be quiet!" Shino whispered angrily. "They'll figure out where we are!"

The bugs ignored him, instead surging forward frantically down the hallway and turning another corner before Shino could stop them.

"What are they doing?" Naruto growled to Shino, gesturing down the hallway. "How are we supposed to find Sasuke if he knows we're here?"

"Something's bothering them," Shino replied shakily. "They've never done this before. Something must be really wrong." He scratched his head for a second, before taking off down the hall after his bugs.

"Shino! What're you...?" Naruto sighed, hurrying to catch up to the bug-nin. He heard Tsunade running behind him.

They rounded the corner to find the area open up in front of them. A large room was revealed, with one small chair in the very center. Otherwise, it was empty. Shino's bugs were hovering around a spot on the floor, and Shino ran over to them, crouching down to look at the ground. "Shit."

"What?" Naruto asked nervously, approaching Shino cautiously. "Is something wrong? Where's Sasuke?"

"Sasuke's not here. Not anymore, anyway. And most likely, Sakura isn't either," Shino told him, pointing to the ground. Naruto's eyes followed his finger down to the floor, and he stared blankly at the crushed remains of Shino's female bug.


	13. Three Months Later

****

A/N: IMPORTANT:

**I rated this fic T, and I intend to keep it that way, but I'm not quite sure where things will go yet. I'm not going to go into anything that would definitely be M at any time during this fic, but this'll probably end up being a pretty high T. **

**I don't want to set an age limit or anything on this, but I'm trusting that you all can judge for yourself what you can and cannot read. Different people have different maturity levels. However, if you are 11 or under, you probably are too young to be on anyway, so hopefully nobody that age is reading this. People 12 and up, I'll let you decide whether you want to continue reading. I've tried to keep it semi-innocent up until now, but this is just a warning, because I'm not sure where I'm going with this yet. **

**Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

**Three months later...**

Naruto stumbled into Konoha's only bar, placed himself grudgingly on a bar stool next to none other than Neji Hyuuga. He placed his head on the bar, covering his face and head with his arms, and without showing his face, mumbled to the bartender, "One please."

Neji lightly raised his own glass of sake to his lips, taking a small sip before placing it back down on the bar. "Nothing yet, huh?"

"Of course not. The tip off was a fake," Naruto growled. "I spent a week searching the village Hidden in the Mist with Kiba and Chouij. Nothing."

His sake arrived, and Naruto snatched it out of the bartender's hands, downing it in three gulps. He slammed the glass back down with fervor. "Another."

"Aren't you underage?" Neji pointed out.

"Who cares? So are you," Naruto replied with a grunt.

"Actually, I just turned nineteen, which is Konoha's legal drinking age."

There was a long pause.

"Shut the fuck up, Neji."

Neji heaved a long sigh, sliding off his stool and placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You're going to find her," he stated.

Naruto groaned. "I know I am. I'll search the whole world if I have to. I'm just worried about what'll happen to her between now and then. Think of all the pain she's probably been through by now! And it's all my fault."

"You know it's not, Naruto. It's your destiny to save her."

"I seem to recall that people's destinies can be changed," Naruto replied, raising an eyebrow and receiving another glass of sake from the bartender. He drained it with lightning speed. "Keep it coming, Kioshi." There was a grunt from the bartender's direction.

Neji rolled his eyes. "How do you expect to save her if you come here and get drunk every night?"

"I don't get drunk every night. Just the nights I happen to walk by her house." Naruto took a swig of his third glass. "It's empty, you know. No lights on or anything."

"Obviously," Neji deadpanned, not bothering to hide his insensitivity.

Naruto finished his glass and held up four fingers in the bartender's direction, smacking his lips. "What would you do if it was Tenten?"

"I'd be spending every waking moment of my life hunting down the bastard that took her."

"I tried that!" Naruto exclaimed with a moan, placing his head on the bar again. "I tried it for three damn months."

"So keep trying."

Naruto didn't reply, and Neji sighed again, gripping Naruto's arm tightly and dragging him off the stool. "You're done for the night." He waved off Kioshi, who had just arrived with Naruto's fourth glass of sake, and Naruto tried to pull away from him.

"Says who?"

"Says me. You're still a genin, and I'm a jounin, which gives me full authority over you."

"Hey! I took the chounin exams two years ag-"

"Fine, you're a chounin. But either way, I'm a jounin, and we're leaving." He dragged Naruto out of the bar with one hand, yanking him onto a nearby bench and sitting down next to him. "So what is it you're planning on doing, exactly? Waiting for something to happen? That's not going to work."

"No. What I was PLANNING on doing, before you so rudely interrupted, was going into that bar, getting drunk so I could finally be happy for one night, hopefully getting carried home by some nice citizen, and then sleeping until noon tomorrow. And I haven't thought past that yet."

"Alright...sounds good to me," Neji said lightly.

Naruto raised his eyebrows at the sudden change in attitude, then grinned. "Now that's what I like to hear. Let's go!" He stood up quickly, preparing to head back into the bar.

"So when do you save Sakura, then?" Neji asked him, stopping him in his tracks.

Naruto turned around, glaring at him. "You can't just give me one night of peace, can you? My friggin girlfriend's been missing for three months after I SAW her get kidnapped by the guy that used to be my best friend, and you can't let me get drunk for one night?"

Neji leaned against the back of the bench, crossing his arms behind his head. "I'm not stopping you anymore. Go ahead. Go get drunk. That's probably exactly what Sakura's doing right now, anyway. Having a merry old time who-knows-where. She's probably having just as much fun as you are. No cares in the world...except whether or not she's going to die any second now."

Naruto glared at him for a moment, finally spitting at Neji's feet. "Bastard," he muttered, spinning on his heel and heading away from the bar, back towards his house.

Neji stood up, falling into step beside him. "What are friends for?"

* * *

"I mean it. Right now."

"No."

Sasuke looked like he was going to drop to his knees and beg at any moment. "Please?"

"No."

Sakura lifted her nose in the air and looked away from him, almost as if she wasn't actually bound to a chair in front of him.

Sasuke crossed his arms, his expression turning serious. "Sakura, because of my love for you, I have waited three months for this without complaint. I gave you time. I've been fair. Now I really don't want to do this by force, okay? Should I give you another taste of what that would be like?" He bent over so his eyes met hers. They flashed dangerously.

Despite her attempts to appear proud and defiant, Sakura shut her eyes tightly, looking away from him.

Sasuke chuckled. "I'm telling you right now. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Sakura finally struggled against the chakra strings binding her, grunting in pain when they tightened. Sasuke ran a finger down her smooth cheek, and she shut her eyes even tighter.

"Come now, Sakura. You know I love you. Trust me, if you let yourself, you'll enjoy this," he murmured.

"I don't wanna get pregnant," Sakura whimpered, flinching at his touch. "I'm only nineteen..."

"I know, I know," Sasuke replied softly, unbuttoning the first button on her shirt. "You won't, I'll make sure. I don't want you to have to be pregnant on the first time. I wouldn't put you through that."

Sakura tried in vain to shrink away from him. "Stop it, Sasuke."

Sasuke leaned forward, placing his face beside hers and breathing in the scent of her hair. His eyes slid shut contently. "Not this time. I've waited too long..."

Sakura tensed up all her muscles, clenching her teeth and struggling against her bindings as he reached for a second button. "Sasuke, I said..."

With a loud snap, the chakra strings around her right ankle broke, freeing her right leg. It reared back, then sprang forward, hitting Sasuke in the most vulnerable spot a man has. He let out a loud yell, collapsing on his side with his hands between his legs.

Sakura tensed her muscles up again, growling loudly and struggling to free her other ankle. There was another loud snap, and Sakura ignored the thin trails of blood running down her ankles, instead standing up and looking around for an exit, the chair still tied around her body. She spotted a doorway leading out of the room and ran towards it, opening her mouth in a silent scream as the chakra strings cut into her arms. She flexed her biceps, letting the bindings cut deeper into her flesh, and at last the strings snapped. The chair fell away from her body, slamming to the floor loudly. Completely freed, Sakura dashed towards the door.

She was nearly a foot away when Sasuke tackled her from behind. They crashed to the floor, Sasuke on top of her, and the fall knocked her breath out of her lungs. She lay there, gasping for air, and when Sasuke flipped her over, she found herself face to face with a pair of angry, red eyes.

Almost immediately, Sakura was launched into the alternate universe that she had only been in once before. As soon as movement in this alternate world became difficult, she knew what was happening. Her worst nightmare was being relived all over again.


	14. Search and Rescue

Sunlight was barely beginning to stream through the Hokage's window when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in," she said loudly, looking up from the giant amount of papers littered across her desk.

Naruto entered the room with his hands clasped behind his back and a solemn look on his face, stopping directly in front of her.

As soon as Tsunade realized who her visitor was, she sighed audibly, raising her hands to the sides of her head and rubbing her temples. "Wherever you're going, Naruto, you know you have my full permission."

"I know. I just came to tell you that I'm going to need to take a team with me. Is there anyone from my graduating class that's available?"

Tsunade sifted through her papers for a moment, before reaching for one and skimming it quickly. "Kiba and Chouji are still recovering from their last search with you, Team Gai is due to leave for an A rank mission later today, Shino's on a solo B rank mission, and Hinata's currently working as a medical apprentice under Shizune. Everyone else is available, but since you're still technically a chounin, you're required to take a jounin with you. Both Kakashi and Yamato are available, as Kurenai has asked to help oversee Hinata's training. Do you have any preferences in regards to who comes with you?"

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows as Tsunade handed him the paper. "Preferences?" he asked, glancing down at it. "What preferences? Shikamaru and Ino are the only ones left."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, giving him a small nod. "I meant the jounin."

"...Oh." Naruto frowned. "Well, Shikamaru and Ino work well together, but they're styles aren't really suited for actual weapon and hand-to-hand fighting. I need someone that can help me fight." He took his eyes off the paper, shifting them back to the Hokage. "Who do you think would be better?"

"You know their skills better than I do," Tsunade retorted. "However, Yamato happens to be recovering from a knee injury that he received on his last mission, and although he is well enough to fight, I think Kakashi would be better suited."

Naruto nodded quickly. "Alright, Kakashi then."

They stood facing each other silently for a moment.

"...Well?" Tsunade started.

Naruto gave her a confused look.

"You know where to find them," Tsunade clarified briskly. "Good luck with the search. How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"We'll try to be back in less than two weeks," Naruto told her. He bowed quickly, and Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the respectful gesture as Naruto turned to leave.

"Good luck," Tsunade repeated. The door to her office slammed behind Naruto, and Tsunade immediately let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"Don't die out there," she said to no one in particular.

* * *

Naruto cleared his throat sharply, before knocking on the front door of Shikamaru's apartment. There was a loud groan of annoyance from inside, a few thumps as feet pounded across the floor, and suddenly the door was thrown open, revealing a messy-haired Shikamaru who looked like he'd just been woken up.

"What is it?" he asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"I've got a mission for you," Naruto told him, ignoring his friend's aggravated tone.

Shikamaru's attitude changed drastically at that. His eyebrows raised, Shikamaru nodded at him, then turned to go back inside. "I'll be right out."

"Alright, meet me at the gates to the village!" Naruto shouted at Shikamaru's retreating back. "Ino and Kakashi are coming with us!"

Shikamaru stopped in his tracks. "What?" he asked without turning around.

Naruto's tone was laced with impatience. "I said to meet me at the front gates to the village. Be there in fifteen minutes, okay?"

Shikamaru shook his head slowly, as if he was pondering something, then spun around to face Naruto. "Dude...she's not going."

Naruto scratched his head. "What do you mean?"

"We're not taking Ino, man. She can't go."

"Why not?" Naruto asked, confused. "Is she injured?"

Shikamaru scoffed loudly. "No, she's not injured. I'm not letting her go."

Naruto sighed in realization, rolling his eyes. "We don't have time for this, Shikamaru. You two work well together, and you'll be there to protect her, okay?"

"She's not going," Shikamaru repeated, crossing his arms and glaring at Naruto.

"Who's not going where?" Ino asked, walking into Naruto's field of vision and standing next to Shikamaru in only a bathrobe.

Shikamaru went beet-red, and Naruto gaped at them. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Shikamaru and Ino did NOT share an apartment.

Apparently, Shikamaru realized that Naruto had come to this conclusion, for he hissed a quick, "No one Ino, go get dressed!"

Ino glared at Shikamaru, and he gulped loudly, avoiding her eyes. "Were you two talking about me?"

Naruto smiled, taking advantage of the situation. "Why, yes, we were just talking about the mission you're going to come with us on!"

Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest, but Ino cut him off with a nod and an, "Oh, okay, I'll get dressed and be right out."

"Inoooooooooo..." Shikamaru complained.

"Oh, be quiet." Ino rolled her eyes and turned to Naruto. "He always does this. It's so annoying how overprotective he is."

Shikamaru frowned at Naruto, then reached for the front door and shut it in his face.

* * *

Kakashi answered the door with a book in one hand and a cup of tea in another. He took one look at Naruto and said, "I'll be right out."

"We're meeting at the front gates," Naruto told him. Kakashi nodded quickly and shut the door without another word.

Naruto headed straight from Kakashi's house to the front gates of the village, and only had to wait for a few minutes before Ino and Shikamaru arrived, heading towards him and seemingly in the middle of a heated argument.

"Oh, so just because you're the man you think I'm some kind of damsel in distress?"

"No, I just think that every woman should be protected in some way by someone of the opposite gender."

"So I'm not strong enough to protect myself?"

"Well, I suppose you might be, but it wouldn't hurt to have a little extra hel-"

"So, what, you're just going to follow me around my entire life protecting me from every little danger?"

"Well, no, but-"

"What happens if I get a paper cut? Are you going to keep annoying me and annoying me until I finally wear a band-aid or something?"

"I'm sure I won't protect you to that extent..."

"I'm strong enough to protect myself, and I can make my own decisions about my own safety. Plus, I think I have a right to try and help rescue my best friend," Ino huffed. "And I don't need your help." She crossed her arms and looked away from her boyfriend just as the two of them reached Naruto.

Shikamaru shot Naruto a pained look, and mouthed, "Women."

A loud poof resounded from behind Naruto, and all three ninja jumped in surprise.

"Ah, we're all here," Kakashi commented, looking around quickly. "Let's go, then."

"Where are we searching?" Ino asked. Shikamaru stood beside her, a frown on his face and his hands in his pockets.

"The Land of Waves," Naruto replied.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked. "What makes you think Sasuke and Sakura will be there?"

Naruto frowned. "I just have this feeling. Sentimental reasons, you know?"

"So you didn't get any tips considering this?"

"No."

Shikamaru sighed. "This entire journey will be pointless then."

"Look at it this way then: there won't be any fighting, and your manly pride won't have to protect Ino."

Ino snorted in amusement as Naruto grinned mockingly at Shikamaru, who glared back at him furiously. "You'd do the same thing."

"For Ino? ...I don't think so."

Ino's laughter died and her cheeks went red. "Hey!"

"C'mon, you guys. Stop fighting, this is serious," Kakashi interrupted, grabbing Naruto by the arm and yanking him forward. "You're all eighteen now. Act like it."

Naruto mumbled something intelligible, and Kakashi added a, "Let's go."

The gates opened slowly to reveal the forest beyond, and Kakashi led Naruto, Ino, and Shikamaru out of the village. Thus, their journey to the Land of the Waves began.


	15. The Land of Waves

It was almost four days later when Kakashi, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Ino arrived at the Land of Waves.

"There it is."

Naruto looked around quickly for some sign of the village. "Where?"

"Right there!" Shikamaru replied, grabbing Naruto's arm and turning him in the right direction. Naruto squinted his eyes and adjusted his position, angling himself to see through the large cluster of trees in front of them.

A huge body of water greeted him, and a long bridge connected the island to the mainland at what looked like about a mile to their left. Naruto grinned at the sight of it. "The Great Naruto Bridge!" he cried.

"Are you kidding me?" Ino asked. "What kind of village would be dumb enough to name a bridge after you?"

"Nope, he's right. The bridge is named after him. One of our very first missions was protecting the man that built it," Kakashi explained.

"That reminds me," Naruto said, tapping his chin in thought. "I wonder if Tazuna is still living here."

"It's been six years since we've last seen him, so who knows?" Kakashi replied. "At any rate, we'd better-"

Kakashi spun around suddenly at a speed so fast that before the other three knew what had happened, a ninja wearing a headband with a symbol none of them recognized on it was pinning to a tree by three kunai.

"Who are you?" Kakashi asked, moving to stand in front of the man.

Before the other ninja had a chance to reply, two more ninja wearing the same headbands as the first one attacked from the sides. One caught Naruto completely off guard, knocking him sideways onto the ground, and the other launched two kunai at both Shikamaru and Ino, which were both blocked by kunais from Kakashi, who had taken his eyes off the trapped ninja to help them. When Kakashi turned back around to face the ninja pinned to a tree, he was gone.

Activating his Sharingan, Kakashi searched the perimeter for signs of the third ninja, as well as any others that could be hiding nearby. Finding no signs of movement, he focused on the rest of his team, but kept his guard up for the inevitable sneak attack.

Naruto was locked in battle with one of the ninja, and had already summoned his Rasengan using a Shadow Clone. Ino and Shikamaru stood nearby, fighting a second ninja. Taking a moment to study the strange symbol on the head band of the ninja currently trapped in Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu, Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows. The symbol looked almost like a cross on top of an X, with three dashed lines out to the left of it. Kakashi had a feeling he'd seen it before during his schooling at the Ninja Academy, but he couldn't quite remember what it stood for.

"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"

A large bang was heard as Naruto's opponent was thrown backward into a tree by Naruto's Rasengan. At the same time, Ino's body slumped forward onto the ground, and Shikamaru released his Shadow Possession as Ino began to test the muscles of her opponent's body, first wiggling her fingers, and then bending her knees lightly.

"Alright," she said with a grin. Jumping forward quickly, she ran to join Naruto in front of his collapsed opponent. Kakashi and Shikamaru headed towards them, Shikamaru carrying Ino's body in his arms, and Kakashi bent down in front of the fallen ninja. "Naruto, Ino, keep watch for the third one. Shikamaru, take a look at this."

The three lower ranking ninja hurried to obey his orders, and Kakashi gestured towards the head band of the unconscious nin. "Recognize this symbol?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied, studying it with concentration. "I can't remember what it means, though. One second." He shut his eyes tightly and his hands came together to form an O. "I'll try to remember," he murmured.

There was a loud thump from behind them, along with a gasp of surprise, and Kakashi turned around to see Naruto launch himself at the third ninja, who evidently had rejoined the fight. Ino hurried to help, and a large cloud of dust arose, shielding the three from view. When it finally cleared, the ninja was pinned to a tree, and Naruto was holding a kunai to his neck.

The ninja gasped for air, and his eyes widened in surprise through his mask as Naruto pressed the kunai even harder against his throat. "Who do you work for?" Naruto growled.

Shikamaru's eyes shot open behind Kakashi, and he whispered, "Wave."

Coughing loudly, the ninja summoned up every ounce of his courage, and shouted, "Intruders!"

Ignoring the instinct in the back of his head that said the ninja's voice sounded familiar, Naruto brought the arm holding the kunai up, and prepared to let it descend on the ninja's chest.

"Intruders! Attacking the Land of Waves!"

Naruto froze. "Huh?"

He released the Wave-nin, letting him fall to the ground in a slump. Ino released her Mind Transfer Jutsu, and her body stirred next to Shikamaru.

"You're from the Land of Waves?" Naruto asked as the ninja that Ino had taken over gripped their head and groaned. The ninja lying against the tree near Shikamaru also stirred, looking around at them with surprise.

"Of course we are! Can't you see the symbol on our head bands?" the ninja Naruto had almost stabbed cried.

"We thought you were assassins!" Naruto replied. "You can't just attack people like that!" He pointed to the leaf on his head band. "Konoha equals ALLIES," he said slowly, enunciating the last word.

The ninja's eyes widened in surprise. "You're from Konoha?"

"Evidently," Ino cut in.

The ninja's eyes got even wider, then he gripped his own mask, yanking it off.

They stared at each other.

"...Naruto?"

"...Inari?"

Inari grinned, throwing his arms around Naruto in a childish hug. Naruto stumbled backwards in surprise, then grinned back as Inari released him.

"Geez, you're practically a man now!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm 14," Inari said proudly. He glanced around at the other leaf-nin. "Hey, I remember now! You're Naruto's sensei!" He pointed to Kakashi. He frowned at Ino and Shikamaru. "I don't remember you two."

"We didn't go on that mission," Shikamaru explained. "We're from another team."

"Oh," Inari replied with a shrug. "Well," He looked from Kakashi to Naruto. "I was wondering when you two were going to show up."

"Why were you-" Naruto started, but Inari interupted him.

"Obviously, I'm a ninja now. We got a school set up after the bridge was built. Remember how our country used to be so poor that we couldn't afford one? Well, now our land has loads of kids that are looking to become ninja. I only just became a chounin, but I can't wait to become a jounin and join our village's ANBU! Oh, by the way, these are the other members of my team, Manami and Taro."

The ninja who's body Ino had taken over pulled off their mask to reveal a girl with jet black hair and brown eyes, and the one Naruto had hit with his Rasengan stood up and pulled off his to reveal a boy with brown hair and blue eyes. They both looked to be about the same age as Inari.

"Ryo-sensei was busy today, so we decided to do the patrol by ourselves," Inari explained.

"Your village sent out three teenagers by themselves as security?" Shikamaru asked.

Inari went red. "It's not every day our village gets attacked. In fact, since you guys protected my grandfather, we've only been attacked once, and it was by a rogue ninja, and the ninjas from our village easily took him down. We're not that big on protection right now. Nobody's threatened us. This is really just a precaution."

Kakashi nodded his understanding. "Do you mind if we enter your village? We'll try to leave before a week has passed."

Inari grinned. "Sure! Stay as long as you'd like. We don't mind. In fact, you can stay with me!" He led them on the walk to the bridge, talking along the way.

"Our economy's been booming ever since the Great Naruto Bridge was built!" Inari bragged, ignoring the scoff from Ino at the name of the bridge. "In addition to being a ninja, I'm also an apprentice to my grandpa. He owns his own farm now, and grows fruits and vegetables to sell to the other villagers, now that there's not much of a need for building bridges anymore. I help him with the farm, and with the selling."

"How's your mother doing?" Naruto asked curiously. As they reached the bridge and began to cross it, Naruto noticed Manami come up beside Inari and lightly take his hand. He raised an eyebrow at Inari, who blushed and avoided his eyes.

"Oh, she's fine. Still taking care of the house and everything..."

"So Inari," Kakashi started. "At what age did you start your ninja training?"

"We all started when we were nine," Inari replied, seemingly reluctant to bring attention to his team mates. Naruto could guess why, and shot Inari a sideways grin, letting his eyes travel back and forth between Inari and Manami obviously enough so that Inari would notice. Inari immediately took his eyes off Naruto, staring down at the ground instead and turning an even darker shade of red. "and we all graduated when we were twelve," he finished, his tone now shy and embarrassed.

Kakashi cleared his throat, picking up on the awkwardness, and turned to Inari's third team mate. "Taro, right?"

The boy nodded without looking at Kakashi.

"So how did you come to live in this village?"

Taro shrugged. "I was born here. I've never met my parents, though. I've lived on the street my whole life."

Kakashi clapped Taro's back with his hand cheerfully, and Taro grimaced and frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that, Taro, but at least now you've got a bright future as a ninja!"

"Sure."

"What about you, Manami?" Ino asked, glancing at the girl next to Inari.

"I was born here, too," Manami told her shyly. "My parents are both merchants, so they travel a lot. I don't see them too often."

While Ino nodded her understanding, Naruto looked from Manami to Taro thoughtfully. His first impressions of them were that Taro was somewhat like Sasuke as a kid, but with less murderous intent, while Manami was a lot like Hinata, except she didn't stutter.

They reached the end of the bridge, and Inari led them down the main road of the village, then took a left after a few minutes. After another moment of traveling down this road, Inari stopped in front of a house Naruto deemed familiar. "Here we are!"

The front door opened before they could reach it, revealing a woman that Naruto recognized as, Tsunami, Inari's mother. "Inari, you're back, are your team mates going to stay for din-" She stopped as she noticed Ino, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and finally, Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and stepping outside fully to get a better look at them. "...and Kakashi Hatake?"

"Yup, it's us. We're here on a search and rescue mission."

"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask why you were here," Inari commented as Tsunami smiled at them.

"Come on in! Introduce me to your other friends," she said to Naruto and Kakashi, gesturing them all inside.

"Er... I have get home, actually," Taro muttered, giving Tsunami a quick bow of respect. "Bye." Without another word, he turned and left, sticking his hands into his pockets and slouching as he walked.

Tsunami frowned after him, but let everyone else inside all the same. "I worry about that boy sometimes," she told them. "He lives all by himself. The village pays for his house, but he has to buy food with his own money from missions. I've asked him to move in with Inari, Tazuna, and I, but he always says no." She shook her head sadly for a moment, but sighed, letting a smile return to her face. "Oh well, no time to dwell on things, for tonight is a happy occasion, after all." She forced a smile at the rest of them. "It's a good thing I made a big dinner!"

"Oh, thanks for the offer, but that won't be necess-"

"Are you kidding?!" Naruto exclaimed, interrupting his sensei. "I've been living off nothing but berries for the past four days! I'm starving!" He hurried over to the dinner table, followed by Inari, who took a seat on Naruto's left. Manami sat down on the other side of Inari, and Kakashi sat on the other side of Naruto. Shikamaru took a seat next to Kakashi, and Ino sat down next to Shikamaru.

Tsunami headed for the kitchen cheerfully, ladling the soup she had made into several different bowls. "Now where has that old man gone off to?" she asked with a sigh, putting down the ladle and looking around like she expected him to suddenly appear at the table.

There was a loud bang as the front door slammed, and Tazuna entered the kitchen, patting his belly. "Say Tsunami, is my soup ready ye...Hey!" He glanced around at the five extra guests, smiling widely. "Manami, it's good to see you, but I've haven't seen you Konoha ninja in six years!" He grinned at Naruto. "I see you've grown up!" His eyes moved to Kakashi. "...and someone's gotten old!"

Kakashi smiled through his mask, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "It's good to see you too, Tazuna."

"Same goes for me. But who are these two?" he asked, tilting his head in the direction of Shikamaru and Ino."

"Two more ninja from Konoha. They helped us make up our team of four for the mission we're on."

"Hello, Tazuna. We've heard a lot about you from Inari," Ino said politely. Shikamaru nodded his greeting next to her as Tsunami placed the bowls in front of everyone. Tazuna took a seat next to Manami.

"Well, it's good to see you all," he said, picking up his spoon and taking a sip of his soup. Tsunami sat down, and everyone else followed suit. "I can't say I'm surprised, though."

"Why not?" Naruto asked.

Tazuna looked up at him with surprise. "Inari, you didn't tell him?"

Inari frowned at his grandfather. "I figured he already knew."

Tazuna glanced over at Naruto. "You do know, don't you?"

"Know what?" Naruto asked.

Tazuna gave Inari a confused look. "Isn't that why they're here?"

Inaru shrugged. "I thought so, too." He looked at Naruto. "Wait, you guys said you're on a search and rescue mission, right?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied.

"Oh." Inari shrugged again in Tazuna's direction as Naruto took a sip of his soup. "So are Sasuke and Sakura helping you guys out or something?"

Naruto spit out his soup in surprise, wiping his mouth off quickly. "No! Why would you think that? Actually, Sakura's the one we're rescuing!" He frowned, sensing something was definitely off. "Do you two know something we don't?"

Inari and Tazuna laughed. "What do you mean? Sakura's fine!" Tazuna told them. "In fact, she and Sasuke have been living here for the past few months!"


	16. The Mansion

Sakura's eyes fluttered open to see Sasuke sitting in a chair next to her. She was lying down, and as she regained consciousness, Sakura realized she was on a bed.

Putting two and two together and hitting her mental panic button, Sakura jumped off of the bed and raced to other side of the room, as far away from Sasuke as she could get. Sakura noted that she must have been unconscious for a while if she was already well enough to move again.

"Relax," Sasuke said with a sigh, rolling his eyes at her. "Congratulations. Your little stunt back there bought you more time for now."

She returned his gaze suspiciously, taking a place on the bed after a moment, but making sure she was still out of his reach. "I want to leave," she told him.

"As if that's not obvious already," Sasuke deadpanned. "I've got those guards I hired positioned everywhere, you know that. You're not getting out." He sat up straight, inclining his head towards her. "Actually, you were doing pretty good for three months, and I was planning on letting you go and do some shopping out in the village with only five guards for an escort, rather than me being there myself. But after what happened...I don't think so. I think we're going to have to wait a little longer before we take that kind of risk with you."

Sakura felt a pang of regret somewhere inside her chest, but after remembering what the price would have been had she not tried to escape, her expression of defiance strengthened, and she forced herself to glare at him. "Whatever. I don't care."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

She crossed her arms, refusing to look at him. "Yes. I just want to be alone right now, so do you mind?"

"Not at all," Sasuke replied almost instantly, rising from his chair. "I'll have a guard stationed outside your door. Dinner's in an hour, I'll come get you when it's ready."

"What are we having?" Sakura replied, the full brunt of what had happened to her finally sinking in. Her tone changed to one of almost no emotion. "Rice again?"

"Ramen," came the reply. She could hear the mocking in his voice, but chose to ignore it.

The sound of his footsteps lessened and lessened as Sasuke walked away from her, until finally, there was a creak as the door opened, and then a soft click as it closed and locked behind him.

Sakura laid down silently on the bed as soon as he was gone, rolled over so her face was buried in her pillows, and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

"That's the place," Inari told Naruto, pointing up at a huge, dark mansion that towered over the rest of the village. A black gate surrounded the property, and a long, winding pathway led up to the front door, which had two men standing on either side of it.

"Who are they?" Naruto asked, glancing at the men.

"Guards. Sasuke hired them to help protect the mansion and keep Sakura safe. Or at least, that's what all the villagers say."

"That's bull," Naruto replied. "I bet Sasuke knows Sakura would beat the shit out of him if he didn't have guards, and there wouldn't be a damn thing he could do in retaliation for fear of hurting her. Plus, they can help keep her locked up in there." His hands tingled with excitement. "So, you're sure she's in there?"

"Positive. They come out of there and into the village sometimes."

Naruto's eyes widened. "What? They do?"

"Yeah, at least once a week. They're always together when they do. Everyone figures they're dating." Inari looked up at him. "They are, aren't they?"

Naruto clenched his fists, grinding his teeth together. "Something like that."

Inari glanced at him with concern. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?" Naruto replied through gritted teeth, looking up at the mansion with longing. She was so close...

"Is this some half-wit plan to steal Sakura away from Sasuke, or something like that? Are they married, and are you trying to ruin it?" Inari crossed his arms suspiciously. "Tell the truth."

Naruto glared at him, offended by his assumption. "No. Sasuke's one of Konoha's top criminals, up there with Akatsuki, and he's fallen in love with Sakura. She doesn't love him anymore, so he kidnapped her and brought her here."

"Oh... Sorry, Naruto." They were both quiet for a moment. "So...do you still love her? I could tell you did six years ago."

"Of course I do." He sighed, then glanced down at the younger ninja. "That's enough of that. We need to figure out how to get her back. Infiltrating the mansion should be nearly impossible, so we'll use that as a last resort. What day do they usually come to the village?"

"I don't know, I haven't kept track. But I do know that the whole village practically throws a parade when they do. They're both famous around here for what they helped you do six years ago."

"I guess we'll just have to prepare for any day then," Naruto replied. He frowned. "So that's why you brought me out her at six in the morning to show me the mansion?"

"Yup, if Sakura and Sasuke are heroes, imagine how famous you are. The villagers will practically be ripping each other apart to get to you. It's lucky you got here so late yesterday, when hardly anyone was here to see you. Kakashi should be pretty famous around here too, actually."

"What about you?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Me?" Inari replied, looking taken aback. "Nah, I had my moment to shine back then, and six years is a long time. I still have friends, but I'm just a regular villager now. You're the one the bridge is named after."

Naruto smiled at the suggested compliment. "Thanks. I'm not sure fame is a good thing, though." He slung an arm around Inari's shoulder, leading him away from the mansion and back towards his own house. "C'mon, Inari. We've got a whole lot of planning to do."

"That we do," Inari agreed.

"Oh!" Naruto said suddenly. "But first..." he smirked at his younger friend as they turned left onto another road.

"What?" Inari asked suspiciously.

"Soooo... what's going on between you and that other chick?"

"Chick?" Inari replied a bit too quickly, and he was immediately on the defense. "What chick? Psssh... I don't know any chicks. Who said I knew a chick? Was it Taro? He's such a kidder..." He grinned up at Naruto nervously. "Hehe..."

"You know who I'm talking about. That other one, what was her name? M something...Mama...Mono...Mini...Mahna Mahna..."

"Manami?"

"Yes, that's it!" Naruto cried. "Manami. What's with you and her?"

"Ummmmm...nothin'," Inari mumbled.

Naruto nudged him playfully with his elbow. "I know a relationship when I see one. You guys held hands yesterday, AND Manami stayed for dinner. That's like, the fourteen year old version of dating, right?"

Inari scoffed. "Oh please, we kiss too," he blurted out defensively. A second later, he frowned, inwardly cursing himself for his mistake.

Naruto met Inari's eyes, giving him another smirk.

"Well, it's not like it was a secret anyway," Inari replied, trying to sound indifferent. "It doesn't matter if you know."

"Then why'd you deny it at first?"

Inari shrugged. "I don't know, I guess it's not something I want everyone to know. Manami's shy, and I'm...not. We're just so different that nobody expects us to be dating. It's not like we hide it, but if they don't ask, we don't tell. It's not a thing you want to advertise, especially if you have enemies."

Naruto nodded his understanding. "Alright, I'll take it. Do you care if the rest of my team finds out?"

Inari shrugged again. "I guess it doesn't matter."

"Okay." Naruto grinned at him. "Then I'm gonna tell 'em."

* * *

The next two days were spent briefing the rest of Naruto's team, as well as Inari's, since they might end up needing to jump in and help at any time.

"Everybody clear on what to do if they show up tomorrow?" Naruto asked for the fourth time that day.

"Yes, Naruto," chorused six voices as Naruto got up to leave the dinner table. Taro had finally been convinced to stay for a meal, but Inari's sensei hadn't been available to come. Naruto wondered what he looked like, and couldn't wait to meet him.

"Alright, well, I'm off to bed. Wake me up if you hear anything," Naruto told them, heading off to the room he and Inari were currently sharing. Taro would share a room with Shikamaru; Manami was with Ino; and Tazuna was letting Kakashi stay in his room, while Tsunami slept by herself.

"Yeah, I think I'll go to bed too," Ino commented, stretching and letting out a very loud, very fake yawn. "I'm so tired..." She stood up and left the room in an obvious hurry.

A minute ticked by, and Shikamaru also stood up. "Well, I'm off to bed!" he said lightly, heading in the direction Ino had gone. Kakashi grabbed his shirt as he walked by.

"I don't think so. Your room's that way." Kakashi pointed in the opposite direction.

Shikamaru frowned at him, but turned around and followed Kakashi's finger to his room anyway.

"Damn you, Kakashi."

* * *

"Naruto."

Naruto mumbled something in his sleep, and Inari shook him harder. "Naruto!"

With a loud gasp of surprise, Naruto shot up out of bed, looking around quickly for danger. His eyes finally landed on Inari, who was completely dressed and staring at him with concern.

"What is it?" Naruto asked, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Hurry up and get dressed," Inari told him seriously. "Sasuke and Sakura just left their mansion."


	17. Replacement

There was so much noise coming from outside, Naruto couldn't believe he'd slept through it all. He started to change out of his pajamas and into his regular clothes, but Inari stopped him.

"Wait, you can't wear your regular outfit or people'll recognize you. Wear these." Inari handed him black pants and a black shirt, and even a black pair of sunglasses.

"Geez, this doesn't make me look suspicious at all," Naruto said sarcatically, taking the clothes anyway.

"It's the only thing I had that fit you," Inari replied. "The sunglasses are to help disguise you."

Naruto dressed quickly, then looked at himself in the mirror, taking a deep breath. "Do you think this'll work?" he asked anxiously as trumpets played in the distance. "Wow, they sure get into this, don't they?"

"If everything goes right, Sakura should be safe soon," Inari promised. "And yes, they do. That's why you can't be seen. We're disguising your sensei, too, and your temporary team mates."

They headed into the living room and stood near the front door, and after a few minutes, everyone else entered the room too. Shikamaru was wearing another pair of black sunglasses with a muscle shirt and jeans, while Kakashi wore a casual T-shirt and shorts, along with some flip-flops on his feet, and a cowboy-like mask on his face, rather than his usual sideways one. Ino had borrowed one of Tsunami's dresses, and was wearing a hat that looked strangely like a sombrero, but not quite as huge. They all looked completely different from their normal selves.

"Alright, everyone remember the plan?" Naruto asked. They nodded, and Naruto heard the front door slam behind him. He turned to see Tazuna enter the room.

"There are three guards with them," Tazuna told them.

"Perfect," Naruto replied.

They left the house a minute later to find Taro and Manami standing outside in their usual outfits. "You're just in time, we're about to start," Naruto commented. The two younger shinobi nodded, and Inari led them away, towards the crowd that was barely visible in the distance. A walkie talkie was barely visible, sticking out of his back pocket.

Shikamaru and Ino nodded to the others, before heading off together in a different direction. Shikamaru held another walkie talkie in his left hand.

Kakashi turned to Naruto when they were gone. "You ready for this?" he asked.

Naruto took another deep breath. "I've been ready for three months," he growled.

"Good." Kakashi slipped a third walkie talkie into one of his pockets, and Naruto did the same with a fourth.

"Alright, let's do this thing."

* * *

"I see them," came Kakashi's voice in the form of a soft buzz through the walkie talkies. "We're all set to channel three, correct?"

"I'm here," Inari replied.

"Check," Shikamaru said.

"Me too," Naruto told them. "Where are they?"

"Head towards the crowd. It might get pretty loud in there, so if anyone's got anything to say, say it now."

"Naruto," Inari started. "One you get close enough, watch the group carefully. When you see us walk up, that's when you move, got it?"

"Got it."

Naruto took off in the direction of the crowd, a dull roar reaching his ears as he got closer and closer. He reached the mob of villagers, silently thanking Inari for the disguise, and began to use his elbows to shove through the mass of people.

"Hey!" someone called angrily, but Naruto ignored him, shoving through at least fifty more feet of people. At last, he was close enough to the front to see what was going on. Three guards wearing special outfits with hoods and masks that covered their entire heads and faces (other than their eyes) were surrounding someone and blocking them from view, but Naruto could still guess who it was.

Sasuke was out in the wide open, and little kids stumbled up to him one by one, autograph books in their hands. A very small boy approached him cautiously, a pen in one hand and paper in the other.

"Mr. Uchi-i-ha," he stuttered, shyly shoving the pen and paper in Sasuke's direction. "C-could you s-sign this?"

Sasuke grinned at him good-naturedly, squatting down in front of him and taking the pen and paper with his good hand. "You don't need to be scared of me, buddy. Sure I will!" He smiled at the boy, who returned it brightly. After a few seconds during which Sasuke expertly balanced the paper on his knee so he could sign it with one hand, Sasuke handed the paper and pen back to the boy with his signature on it. "Call me Sasuke," he said to the little boy, who ran away happily to rejoin his mother.

The guards parted for a moment to allow a second kid to approach Sakura, and Naruto's breath caught in his throat. She was slightly skinnier, but otherwise, she looked the same as she had three months ago, if not more beautiful in Naruto's eyes. "Sakura..." Naruto mouthed silently. He had to restrain himself from pouncing on Sasuke and his guards then and there.

Sasuke shot Sakura a sideways glance as she kneeled down to sign the child's notebook, and she met his eyes briefly, then flickered them back over to the child, forcing a smile and patting the kid on the head.

"It's so sweet how protective of her he is," a woman standing next to Nauto said to her friend. "Putting all those guards around her like that..."

Her friend nodded in agreement, sighing wistfully. "What I would give to have a husband like Sasuke Uchiha..."

Naruto shook his head in disgust, looking away from them and back to Sasuke and Sakura. His eyes widened, and his body tensed. Taro was approaching Sasuke, a friendly smile on his face.

"Oh, hey Taro," Sasuke said amiably, smiling when he saw the younger ninja. "What can I do for you today?"

"I need an autograph," Taro told him.

Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. "You already have ten!" He grinned. "But if I must..." He reached for the pen and paper in Taro's hand, and Naruto saw Inari walk up to the guards standing by Sakura.

"You need her autograph, kid?" one of the guards asked roughly.

"Nope," Inari replied, unfazed. "Actually, I have a friend that wants yours, but she's too shy to ask!" He pointed to Manami, who was standing a few feet away, just outside the crowd. "After all, who's more important than the people that guard the two most famous people in the village?"

The guard struggled to hide his surprise, and finally, puffing his chest out, replied, "Well, I suppose you're right, but you don't have a pen and paper..."

"Oh, she has it. Come with me to talk to her," Inari suggested. "She really wants to meet you!"

The guard frowned for a moment, trying to make up his mind. "Well...okay. But let me ask my boss first."

He turned towards Sasuke, who was currently busy being bombarded by tiny mobs of children.

"Aw, he's too busy, let's not bother him," Inari said. "You'll be back before he notices anything's wrong!"

"Hmm..." The guard looked back and forth between Inari and Sasuke, and then in Manami's direction. "...alright. But this won't take long, will it?"

"Not at all!" Inari replied happily, grabbing the guard's arm. "Come on!"

Naruto hurried to get back through the crowd, moving away from Sasuke and Sakura slowly enough as to not draw attention to himself. As soon as he was free, he rushed to a nearby alleyway and leaped onto one of the roofs. He laid still, peering over the edge and staring down at the ground. _"C'mon, Inari..."_

After less than a minute, Naruto heard footsteps, and then a voice. "I still don't see why you two need me to meet your parents, I'm sure they don't really care about me. Sasuke and Sakura are the famous ones..."

"Aw, come on, don't beat yourself up!" came Inari's voice. "I'm sure they'll appreciate your work just as much as we do!"

There was a loud sigh. "Alright, but are we almost there? I have to get back to Sasuke soon."

"It's just through here."

Naruto tensed as Inari, Manami, and the guard rounded the corner and headed into the alley. They approached the spot directly below him, Inari steering the guard in the right direction.

"Geez, you guys must live in the dumps. This the middle of nowhe-"

Inari kicked the guard in the back of the leg as hard as he could, and the guards knees buckled, cutting his sentence short. "Wha-?"

Naruto leaped off the roof and landed directly on the guard's back, forcing him to lay on the ground flat on his stomach. There was a loud crack as the guard landed on one of his arms wrong, and it broke. Manami winced at the sound, and Naruto squeezed a place on the guard's neck, making him go limp.

Inari let out a loud sigh of relief. "Alright, let's tie him up and hide him." He handed his walkie talkie to Manami, who contacted the others to fill them in on what had happened. Inari and Naruto dragged the guard down the alleyway, turned a corner, stripped him of his uniform, and dumped him in a big trashcan.

"Is he dead?" Manami asked nervously, putting the walkie talkie away.

"No, he'll wake up eventually. His arm's the worst part," Inari told her.

He took a small box out of his pocket and opened it, showing the contents to Naruto. "The hood will hide your hair, but Sasuke could still recognize your eyes. These will solve the problem."

Naruto peered into the box. "Colored contacts?"

"Yup. Did you get a good look at that guard's eyes? They were brown. So..." Inari found a brown pair and coated them with solution. "Open up." Naruto spread his eye open with two fingers, and Inari put the contact in. They repeated the process with the other eye, and Naruto blinked a few times, getting used to the new feeling. "You good?" Inari asked.

Naruto nodded. "Perfect. Now I just have to get dressed."

He changed into the guard's uniform, slipping the hood on and making sure his hair was covered. Leaving the new clothes with Inari and Manami and preparing to leave, he said, "Wish me luck, guys."

"Good luck," Inari replied obediently.

Naruto turned away from them, taking off back in the direction of the crowd. It was time to replace one of the guards, and finally rescue Sakura.


	18. Heading Back to Konoha

Now completely clad in the guard's outfit, with his hair hidden, eyes colored brown, and the guard's weapon pouch at his hip, Naruto reentered the crowd, fighting his way through and shouting that he was one of Sasuke's guards. Seeing that he was right, the crowd parted far more easily than they had before, and in a few seconds, he was back by Sasuke and Sakura.

Sasuke looked up from the notebook he was signing to glare at Naruto. "Where were you?" he asked angrily.

Naruto cleared his throat. How had the guard's voice sounded?

"Some kids wanted my autograph," he said roughly, congratulating himself when it sounded almost exactly like the actual guard's voice.

Sasuke frowned at him, looking back to the child who was waiting for his autograph. "Fine," he muttered. "But don't do it again."

Satisfied with Sasuke's response, and glad that the Uchiha hadn't bothered to use his Sharingan or any other special ability that could have revealed his presence, Naruto walked past his old team mate and took his place next to Sakura, who was currently occupied with four kids that wanted her to sign their notebooks.

It was around eleven in the morning, and instead of getting smaller, the crowd seemed to be getting bigger. "Sasuke, Sasuke!" little kids were chanting from all directions. "Can I have your autograph?" Even a few women were starting to approach Sasuke, rather than children.

Naruto heard Sakura scoff from below him. "Every single week..." she growled quietly, muttering a profanity as she finished signing notebooks, and stood up, turning to the guard on her other side. "I don't see why you all can't just let me leave," she murmured to him.

"Sasuke's orders, sorry," the guard replied. Naruto could barely hear the conversation over the roar of the crowd. He stared at Sakura for a moment, who's back was to him, and struggled not to say something to her for fear of blowing his cover. He finally wrenched his eyes away, looking over at Sasuke, who also had his back to him. Naruto's hand twitched in anticipation, moving towards his weapons pouch instinctively.

"Wait...no," he thought. "Sakura is my first priority, and there's still the other two guards to take care of. Not to mention what the crowd would do if Sasuke was killed right in front of them, and I couldn't do that to all those kids... I'll deal with him later."

Sakura let out another frustrated growl at the guard's response. "What's your excuse?" she asked angrily, turning to Naruto. Surprised at her effort to talk to him, Naruto turned to face her. "Afraid Sasuke'll-?" She cut herself off as their eyes met, staring at him intensely.

Naruto could feel himself sweating. _"Calm down. There's no way she could...I mean, my eye color's different and everything..she can't see my hair...she..." _He looked her up and down, trying to make his expression cold, but Sakura's gaze was locked on his eyes. She licked her lips after a moment, then turned away from him quickly, squatting down to greet another kid that had approached her. Naruto saw her hands shaking as she reached for the offered pen and paper.

She had recognized him.

Naruto's breath hitched, and he was shocked that she had recognized him when even Sasuke hadn't. He stared down at her, so caught up in finally being reunited with her that he almost pulled her up and kissed her. He caught himself just in time, remembering that Sasuke was only a few feet away.

Like Inari had said it would, the crowd was picking up even more, and Sasuke's name was being chanted so loudly that Naruto felt like his eardrums would burst at any moment. _"Why is Sasuke so much more popular than Sakura?" _Naruto asked himself, thinking that maybe it was because Sasuke had come close to dying on their mission so long ago.

Sasuke gave the crowd a bright smile, then turned to Naruto and the other guards. "Alright, guys. Go ahead and take her home. I'll be there in an hour."

Naruto's heart shot up into his throat as he nodded along with the other guards. The time had finally come to save Sakura.

The crowd cheered louder for Sakura as she was led away, and she gave them a wave and what Naruto thought looked like a genuine smile. He grinned to himself, putting a hand on Sakura's arm to steer her in the right direction. Sakura immediately relaxed under his grip, and Naruto saw her hand twitch lightly. Another guard grabbed her other arm, and she glared at him.

Naruto was glad Inari had informed him of the route the guards usually took to get back to the mansion, because he knew now when the best place to attack was. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow flash from one roof to another. He smiled to himself. _"Kakashi-sensei."_

Another minute later, they were walking down a semi-crowded road, and people were stopping to stare at Sakura. Naruto spotted a couple making out by one of the stands on the side of the road. The man's sunglasses and woman's hat were discarded on the ground next to them. The top of a walkie talkie sticking out of the man's pocket was barely noticeable, and if Naruto hadn't known it was there, he wouldn't have seen it.

They reached an alley a few seconds later; the only one they would go through on the way back to the mansion.

Naruto tensed his body, preparing to attack, but before he could move, Sakura jerked herself out of Naruto and the other two guards' grip, grabbed the head of the one closest to her, and smashed it against the nearest wall. The guard slumped to the ground, dead.

Naruto recovered from his surprise, and pounced on the other one, who gasped at Naruto's seemingly sudden change of heart. They rolled around on the ground for a moment, before Naruto grabbed a kunai out of his weapons pouch and stabbed the guard in the chest. The fight was short and simple.

Standing up as fast as his body would allow him, Naruto ripped his mask off and met Sakura halfway, pushing her against the closest wall as lightly as he could and pressing his lips to hers.

"Naruto..." she murmured, hands running through his hair.

Hurried footsteps could be heard coming towards the alley, but Sakura and Naruto didn't care enough to break apart. All Naruto could think about was Sakura's scent, Sakura's hands running through his hair, Sakura's lips...

"Whoa whoa whoa! You never told me she liked you BACK!" Inari exclaimed, arriving at the alleyway. Manami, Taro, Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Ino all trailed behind him.

Naruto pulled away from Sakura at the sound of Inari's voice, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. He felt her tears already wetting his shoulder.

Kakashi frowned when he saw the guard's bodies, and opened his mouth to say something. His eyes settled on Naruto's face, and he closed it instead, replacing the frown with a small smile.

"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed happily, starting towards her best friend. Shikamaru threw his arm out in front of her, and when Ino gave him a confused look, he shook his head slightly.

"We'll need to hide the bodies," Kakashi finally said, clearing his throat loudly and watching Naruto lightly trace circles on Sakura's back. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Um...I'll grab one. Shikamaru, can you get the other?"

"Sure," Shikamaru replied, heading towards the guard Sakura had killed. He looked over at Naruto and Sakura. "Did you guys really have to kill them?"

"Screw off," Naruto muttered, pulling away from Sakura slightly to kiss her on the cheek. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sakura told him, sniffing quietly and wiping her eyes. "These past three months have just been difficult, is all."

"We'll talk about it later," Naruto promised. "But first we need to get as far away from here as possible."

Kakashi and Shikamaru looked around for a place to hide the bodies, and after a moment, tossed them up onto the nearest roof.

"Oh yes, let's advertise them where the whole village can see," Ino said sarcastically. Shikamaru glared at her, crossing his arms and not bothering to reply.

"I'm still confused," Inari spoke up.

Naruto winked at him. "You're not the only one with a girlfriend, buddy," he replied, looking over at Manami, who's whole face was red with embarrassment at being mentioned.

Inari opened and closed his mouth for a moment. "...Wow."

Naruto laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, thanks for helping us out with everything. Tell your mom that it was really nice of her to let us stay at your house, and tell Tazuna it was nice seeing him, okay?"

Inari cleared his throat, shaking his head. "Actually, I have something to tell you. We want to live in Konoha," he said, nodding at Manami and Taro. "We talked about it last night."

"What?" Naruto asked. "But what about Tsu-"

"Mom isn't happy about it, but she says I can make my own decisions. Manami hardly sees her parents anyway, and Taro...well, he can basically do whatever he wants."

"And your sensei?"

Inari went red. "Er...okay, so I lied. We don't have a sensei. I made him up!"

"And why the hell don't you have a sensei?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Well, we might have gotten enough money to finally get a ninja academy and train ninjas...but we're like the first generation of them. There aren't any older ones that can actually be our senseis! So we're on our own."

"Who gives the orders then?"

"I do."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Taro and Manami. They shrugged.

"Okay, we don't have time for this," Shikamaru cut in. "Sasuke could get back any minute."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Shit. I almost forgot about that." He turned to Sakura. "We have to leave right this second. Should I carry you, or can you travel?"

"No, I'm okay. I can run."

Naruto nodded at her, taking her hand in his and turning back to Inari. "So does that mean you three are coming with us?"

"Yup."

"Alright, I don't have time to argue with you. It should take us four days minimum to get back, so we need to hurry. Let's go."

Naruto and Sakura shot up into the air, heading for some nearby woods, and the others quickly followed.

"There's the bridge," Inari said, pointing at something off in the distance to their left. "We should head that way, and then we can go straight back to Konoha. I think."

"Have you ever even been to Konoha?" Shikamaru asked him.

"No, but traveling outside the Land of Waves is where you guys come in with the directions," Inari told them. "I don't have to know where to go."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Good point."


	19. Explanations

"Alright...we should...stop here...for the night..." Kakashi said in between pants.

"No way...not tired yet..." Naruto gasped out.

"Don't be...ridiculous...I'm exhausted..." Shikamaru replied, collapsing on the ground and breathing heavily. Ino laid down next to him, looking just as tired.

Sakura let out a loud cough, sitting down next to Ino and wiping sweat off her forehead. Everyone took a minute to catch their breath.

"Ugh..." Inari finally groaned. "I'm so tired, can we please sleep here tonight? It's getting dark."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but caught the pleading look Sakura was giving him. He sighed. "Fine. But we need to get up early tomorrow, okay?"

"Fine with me," Ino told him. "But where are we going to sleep?"

"Easy. My mom knew we might not have time to come back to the house before we left, so she gave me these cool things," Inari told them, taking four small objects out of his pockets. He dropped three of them on the ground, then struggled to open the packaging of the fourth. After a moment, he found a small piece of tape and ripped it off, and the entire thing sprang apart. Inari let out a shout of surprise, dropping the object, and the others watching in surprise as it unfolded on its own, revealing a tent big enough for two people.

"Awesome!" Naruto cried, hurrying to help open the rest. "I'm rooming with Sakura!"

"The hell you are," Kakashi interrupted.

"I'll room with Sakura," Ino offered, missing the glare Shikamaru gave her.

"Alright, there's...three girls and five guys," Kakashi said, looking around at them all. "That's not good." He frowned. "Okay...so Ino and Sakura are definitely sharing a tent. Shikamaru...er...okay, you room with Naruto. Manami..." His frown deepened as he looked from Taro to Inari. "Taro, do you remind rooming with Manami?"

"Whatever," Taro replied with a shrug.

"Oh, hell no!" Inari exclaimed, yanking a surprised Manami towards him by her arm. "Manami's rooming with me!"

Kakashi sighed, scratching his head. "Well, that definitely won't work out either way. And I'm not in the mood to look like a pedophile, either...Shikamaru, actually, you can room with Manami. Naruto, you're with Inari, and I'll share a tent with Taro. Everyone good?"

A few people groaned, but Naruto and Inari finished opening the tents, and everyone helped to spread them out everywhere.

"Bed time!" Kakashi declared.

"What are we, five?" Shikamaru asked.

"Just shut up and sleep," Kakashi replied, ducking into his tent. Taro followed him inside.

There were already two sleeping bags set up side by side. Kakashi smiled, climbing into one.

Taro slipped into the other, and they were both silent for a moment.

"So...Taro, how're you enjoying the single life?"

* * *

"Hey..."

"Yeah?" Sakura replied.

"You okay?"

Sakura sat up, looking over at Ino. "I guess so. Why?"

"Well, you've just been through a lot lately, you know?"

"Mmmhmm..."

There was a long pause.

"So...do you wanna talk about it? Or anything?"

"Naruto promised we'd talk later, and I want to tell him everything first," Sakura explained. "Is there any other thing to talk about you had in mind?"

"Well, I've always wondered..." Ino started nervously.

"What?"

"Um...Is Naruto a good kisser?"

Sakura laughed. "Yes Ino, he is."

* * *

Shikamaru looked over at Manami, who was lying in a sleeping bag next to him with her eyes closed. "I feel like a rapist," he muttered.

Manami's eyes opened at the sound of his voice. She smiled lightly. "Sorry about that. It's too bad you couldn't room with your girlfriend."

"Yeah," Shikamaru replied. "I tried to catch her eye, but I guess she wanted to share a tent with Sakura. Kakashi probably wouldn't have let us anyway, though."

"Yeah..." Manami trailed off.

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "You tired?" he finally asked.

"Kinda."

"Me too."

Manami rolled onto her side and sighed, closing her eyes. "Well, I guess we should go to sleep then," she said with a yawn.

"You're probably right..."

Shikamaru laid down on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "This is awkward."

"Yup."

* * *

"Truth or dare."

"That's a girl game!"

"Truth or dare," Naruto repeated firmly.

Inari sighed. "Fine, truth."

"If you could have one wish right now, what would it be?"

"For Manami to be in here instead of you," Inari replied with a grin.

"Thanks," Naruto deadpanned.

"You're welcome. My turn, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to run over to Taro and Kakashi's tent, pull your pants down, and moon them!" Inari exclaimed.

"Hell no. I chicken." Naruto gave Inari an inquisitive look. "Speaking of Taro, what's up with you and him. Are you friends, or what?"

"Sure, we're friends," Inari told him. "We've just got the whole rival thing going on too. I'm totally winning, though."

"Me and Sasuke had that," Naruto said. "Let's just hope Taro doesn't completely go insane, fall in love with Manami, kidnap her, and hide her away in some village where you have to go and rescue her!"

"Oh please, that'll never happen," Inari replied confidently.

"How do you know?" Naruto asked jokingly.

"Because Taro doesn't have enough money to buy a huge mansion and hire guards!" Inari exclaimed with a laugh.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, you're good."

* * *

Naruto groaned, sitting up and looking down at the watch on Inari's wrist. I read: 1:30 a.m.

Inari's eyes were shut, and he was sleeping peacefully, but Naruto didn't see how. This was the third time he'd woken up so far.

Naruto looked around the tent for a moment, before standing up and heading out of it. The other three tents were in the same place they had been, and Naruto couldn't hear any noises coming from inside them. He strained his ears, and heard a strange noise he hadn't noticed before, when they had first set up camp.

He walked through the woods for a few minutes, towards the noise, which got louder and louder as he got closer. Finally, he moved through a small patch of bushes and ducked under a tree branch, coming to the source of the sound. He beheld the sight in front of him.

"...Whoa."

* * *

Sakura shot up out of her sleeping bag as she heard footsteps heading towards her tent. She'd been awake all night so far, waiting in case Sasuke decided to show up. Tensing her entire body and gripping a kunai in her right hand, Sakura pounced on the intruder right as he reached her tent. They fell to the ground, Sakura lying on top of the person and forcing the kunai against his throat.

"Sakura?"

"...Naruto?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Couldn't sleep."

Sakura smiled back, climbing off of him and helping him up. "Me neither."

"That's what I was hoping you'd say," he replied happily. Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Er...that is..." Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. "Just come on, there's something I have to show you."

He grabbed her hand and tugged her away from their camp and into the woods.

"Naruto, we could get lost..." Sakura started.

"Don't worry, I know how to get back." He paused for a second, looking at her. "Do you hear that?"

Sakura gave him a strange look. "Hear what?"

Naruto frowned. "You don't hear it? Here, let's get closer." He led her farther into the woods, until a dull roaring sound reached her ears.

"Whoa, what's that noise?"

Naruto grinned. "Now you hear it. C'mon, just through here!" They went through a thicket of bushes, ducked under a tree branch, and arrived at a large clearing.

Sakura stared in awe. "This is so beautiful!"

"I know, I just found it a few minutes ago. I wanted to show you this," Naruto told her, gesturing to the scenery around them. A small pond lay in front of them, surrounded by a small wall of stones so that the water wouldn't get out. A small stream of water was connected to it. At the beginning of the stream of water sat a waterfall, which fed water into the pond. The entire body of water glinted in the moonlight, and the roar of the small waterfall was just loud enough that Naruto and Sakura could hear each other speaking over it.

"How did you find this?" Sakura asked him as he led her towards a small patch of grass near the pond.

"I guess I have extra-good hearing," Naruto said with a shrug. "It's probably because of the Nine-Tailed Fox. I thought this would be a nice place to talk. That's why I was hoping you were awake."

"Oh," Sakura replied, her stomach twisting in knots at the prospect of talking about her time with Sasuke. She stared down at the ground, picking at a blade of grass absentmindedly. "What do you want to talk about?"

Naruto scooted closer to her until he was sitting beside her, and kissed her temple lightly. "Don't be nervous. Just think of it as a debriefing, it doesn't have to be personal. Better me than the Hokage, right?" he asked her, wrapping an arm around her.

"No...it's not that," Sakura told him. "It's just hard to talk about, and I don't want to ruin the moment or anything. Are you sure this is the best time?"

"I can't think of a better time and place," Naruto said seriously. "I want to know everything that happened to you, so I can get proper revenge on that bastard."

Sakura took a deep breath. "Alright," she said with a sigh. "What do you want to know first?"

"Let's start with these," Naruto said softly, reaching for one of her sleeves and pulling it up slightly to expose the bandage around her upper arm. He repeated the process with the other sleeve, and then gestured down to the similar bandages on her ankles. "What are those from?"

Sakura laughed quietly. "In a way, those are my fault. He bound me with chakra strings, and I broke through them," she told him almost proudly.

Naruto didn't share her humorous view of the injuries. "Why did he tie you up?"

"Ugh...he just did that a lot. When I wasn't locked in my room with a guard at the door, or walking with Sasuke through the village, I was tied up." She gave him a thoughtful look. "You know, when I think about it, things could've been so much worse. He was nicer than I thought he'd be."

"Do you have any more injuries?" Naruto asked anxiously.

Sakura reviewed the past three months in her head. "Um...no, I don't think so. Not physically."

Naruto stared at her quietly. "N-nothing else? Really?"

Sakura looked up at him questioningly. "No, what did you think would be...oh..." She blushed. "Um, like I said, he was nicer than he could've been."

Naruto shook his head in disbelief, gaping at her. "So...you're still...?" He stood up quickly, pulling her up with him and looking her up and down with a bright smile. "Really? He didn't...?"

Sakura grinned at him. "No. That's how I got the cuts. He tried, but I fought back."

"Oh man..." Naruto started, wrapping his arms around her and pressing her against him. "I thought for sure he'd done it already...you were gone for so long!"

"I know, I thought so to. I almost just gave up and let it happen," Sakura told him, pulling away and frowning. "But there's still something I have to tell you."

Naruto met her frown with one of his own, his smile fading. "What? Did something else happen?"

"It's complicated," Sakura told him. She sighed. "Well, you know how he has that thing of his, the same thing Itachi had? The one where he can trap you and torture you for three days?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied. "He used that on you?" he guessed.

"Sort of. It wasn't torture, it was..." she trailed off, gathering the courage to finish her sentence. "Naruto, he...he didn't need to actually rape me or anything physically, because he did it mentally...twice."

Naruto stared at her anxiously. "What does...what does that mean? What did he do?"

"It just means that I have the memory of it, but it didn't actually happen."

"So..." Naruto shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "Oh man...when did he do it?"

"Once the day he kidnapped me, and then another time a little less than a week ago." Seeing the look on his face, Sakura touched a palm to his cheek nervously. "It's okay, Naruto, really. I'm fine now."

He sighed, sitting back down on the ground and taking her hand in his. Sakura sat down next to him. "I wasn't strong enough," he mumbled. He shut his eyes tightly and pressed the hand he was holding Sakura's hand with against the side of his head, so she was touching him. "He's always one step ahead of me, and I wasn't strong enough to stop him."

His eyes opened in surprise when he felt Sakura's lips pressing lightly against his. She pulled away from him slowly, staring into his eyes.

Sakura frowned suddenly. "You forgot to take those contacts out," she told him quietly, changing the subject. "Hold on a second."

He stared at her silently as she pried one of his eyes open, slipping the contact out and then repeating the process with his other eye. She smiled at him. "Much better. They're blue now."

"How did you recognize me?" Naruto asked abruptly. "All you could see were my eyes."

Sakura leaned forward, kissing him right between his eyes. "I'd know them anywhere, no matter what color they were."

Naruto forced a smile, putting his head in his hands and sighing. "So that's the worst of what happened?" he questioned.

"Yes, that was the worst," Sakura replied. They were both silent for a moment, deep in thought, and that was when it occurred to Sakura that for once, they were truly alone.

"...Naruto?"

Naruto looked over at her. "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Naruto straightened up, adjusting himself to face her fully. "Sure, anything."

"It's just...I've been thinking..." Sakura started. She frowned. "Um...never mind, forget I said anything."

Naruto nudged her almost playfully. "C'mon, what?" he asked with a smile. "What is it?"

Sakura scratched her head nervously. "Promise you won't freak out or anything?"

"Promise," Naruto said seriously.

"Okay. So...I've been thinking. After all I've gone through...Naruto, when Sasuke was doing all that stuff to me and I thought that it would be the end of my...um, innocence..." A blush covered her face as she looked up at him.

"All I was thinking about was how stupid I was to put so much restrictions on our intimacy and how much I wished that I'd done it with you already, so Sasuke wouldn't have anything to take away from me." She took a deep breath as Naruto's face went red to match hers. "And so I was wondering...do you think, maybe..." She sighed, then cleared her throat loudly. "That is, um...let's say one day I decided I wanted to have sex with you. What would you do?"

Naruto's blush grew darker, and he suddenly found his feet extremely interesting. "I would say that I respect your decision, and that if you wanted to have sex, well...I'd be willing to do anything to make you happy." He laughed nervously. "I don't mean that last part in a disgusting way, by the way."

Sakura nodded slowly, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "Well...alright then. I was just curious, is all."

"Heh...yeah. Totally hypothetical." Naruto said, laughing nervously again and avoiding her eyes.

"Soooo..."

Crickets chirped awkwardly in the background.

"Yeah..."

Naruto twiddled his thumbs and rocked back and forth slowly, looking everywhere other than Sakura.

She stared down at the ground, patting her leg softly to an invisible beat.

"Anyway..." Sakura started, her eyes flickering in Naruto's direction.

"So..." He clicked his tongue nervously, trying to think of something else to say.

"Heh..."

Naruto glanced at her quickly. "Wanna have sex?"

"Duh."


	20. Dead on Arrival

"Wakey wakey!" a voice shouted in Sakura's ear. She shot up out of her sleeping bag, looking around wildly to see Ino grinning at her. "Have a good sleep?"

"Um...yeah," Sakura said with a shrug, trying to look nonchalant. She rubbed the back of her neck. It ached. "I think I slept on my neck funny," she said with a frown.

"Here, let me help," Ino replied, reaching for Sakura's neck.

"Wait, what are you going to d- OW!" She shoved Ino's hands away angrily. "What the hell was that?"

"Try moving it now," Ino told her.

Sakura twisted her neck back and forth experimentally. "Hey, it worked!"

"Of course it did," Ino said, standing up and ducking out of the tent. "C'mon, we have to leave early if we're going to reach Konoha before Sasuke reaches us."

Sakura groaned loudly, lying back down and covering her face with her hands. She frowned suddenly, remembering her trip to the waterfall with Naruto. _"Was that all a dream? Oh no... I hope I didn't imagine it all..."_

"Sakura, get your lazy ass out here!" Ino called. Sakura let out another groan, but finally stood up, leaving the tent and joining the rest of the ninja, who were all gathered in a circle around Kakashi.

"Inari, do you know how to pack up those things?" Kakashi asked, gesturing towards the tents as Sakura approached the group.

"Er...no."

"We'll figure it out," Shikamaru cut in. "I'll help Inari."

"Anything I can do to help, sir?" Taro asked, nodding at Kakashi.

"I think everything's taken care of, Taro, but thanks for offering," Kakashi replied, smiling down at the younger male. Taro grinned back, his teeth flashing almost too similarly to the way Lee's and Gai's usually did.

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. _"Looks like somebody bonded..."_

Naruto noticed Sakura approaching, and turned towards her as everyone else left to do whatever task Kakashi had assigned to them. "Hey," he said.

"Hi," Sakura replied, scratching her head and still wondering whether she'd been dreaming or not. "What's up?"

Naruto shrugged. "Not much. It's good to see you're awake." He leaned forward and gave her a short kiss. Sakura noticed that his cheeks were slightly pink. She smiled slightly, deciding to take a more direct approach.

"So...I had an interesting dream last night."

"Really?" Naruto replied, returning her smile. "That's funny, because I did too."

Sakura's searching look disappeared, and she smirked at him. "Well...alright then." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Inari and Shikamaru struggling to pack a tent back into its small package. "I guess I better go help them," she said. "We'll talk later." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, lingering a little longer than necessary.

"Looking forward to it," Naruto replied breathlessly. He stared at her as she walked away, then shook his head quickly, looking around for anyone else that looked like they needed help. Finally spotting Manami alone by herself, he headed over to her, shoving his hands in his pockets as he reached her. "Hey, Manami. Whatcha doin'?"

Manami sighed. "Nothing. Nobody needs my help around here."

"Hey, just because you're a girl doesn't mean you can't help."

"I know that, it's just that nobody else seems to have figured it out. Ino and Sakura do some work, but nobody ever asks me to do anything."

"Ino isn't working, she's over there with Taro," Naruto pointed out, looking over at the couple in question. Ino was squatting down so she was just below Taro's eye level, and seemed to be lecturing him about something having to do with showing more of his emotions. Taro's face was red, and his eyes kept flickering south of Ino's face, where he could no doubt see down her shirt.

"Well, she doesn't like physical work, anyway," Manami muttered. "I just get bored sometimes."

Naruto frowned. "You know what you should do, Manami?"

"What?"

"Talk to Inari about doing it. That'll take away your boredom!" He felt a sharp blow to the back of his head, and went flying to the ground, landing in a pile of dirt.

"Okay, thanks for the advice, Naruto!"

Kakashi stood above him, glaring down at the chounin. "What the hell, Naruto? Don't tell her that!"

Despite Kakashi's reprimand, Manami had already left in the direction of her boyfriend. "Hey, Inari!"

Naruto frowned as Kakashi's glare intensified. "Fine, I'll go take it back." He stood up, brushing himself off. "Stupid sensei..."

* * *

The next three days were surprisingly uneventful, and at last, the gates to Konoha came into view. Naruto grinned at Sakura, reaching over and grabbing her hand as they both pushed off of another branch.

"We're here!" Inari cried from somewhere behind them.

"So this is the Village Hidden in the Leaves..." Taro muttered as they landed in front of the gate.

"You ready?" Kakashi asked Sakura. She nodded quickly.

"Let's go."

They stepped through the gates, looking to their left to where the guards usually sat. There was no one there.

"That's odd..." Shikamaru voiced. He turned to eye the buildings closest to them. None of them seemed to contain any signs of life. "Something's wrong here."

They started down the road, Shikamaru leading the way. As they got deeper into the village, the buildings became more and more dilapidated, and the roads were cracked and upturned. The whole village was a wreck.

"What happened?" Ino asked, looking around with wide eyes.

"It's empty. There's no one here," Shikamaru replied.

"How did he beat us? How did he get here so fast?" Naruto asked, his throat dry. "Where did everyone go?"

"I don't know..."

They reached the very center of the village, where, normally, the power lines and telephone poles all converged, and the market stalls surrounded the sides of the street. Instead, stalls and carts were overturned, large poles had fallen over and left dents on the ground, and a dead horse lay on the ground with the cart it had been pulling lying on the ground next to it. Looking up at Hokage mountain, Naruto noticed that part of the Fourth Hokage's face had been blown off, and the First Hokage's face was completely gone.

"The village is completely destroyed..." Sakura whispered. "I can't believe Sasuke did all this..." She looked up at the sky, which was filled with dark clouds. It looked like it would start raining at any second. As her eyes returned to the ground, one of the telephone poles that was still standing caught her eye. She gasped. "Oh my g..." A loud boom of thunder drowned out the rest of her sentence, but everyone still saw Sakura point at the pole.

Sasuke's signature purple belt was the first thing that caught everyone's eye. It was tied to a peg that had been nailed into the pole, and it hung down about a foot before the other end was was also tied. That end was wrapped around Tsunade's neck. She hung in the air, the belt the only thing keeping her from falling. A kunai was lodged directly into her heart. There was no doubt that she was dead. Carved into the pole below Tsunade were the words, "Give her back."

Sakura's breath hitched in her throat, and she dashed towards her sensei's body. Before she could get within ten feet of the pole, a hand grabbed her arm, yanking her backwards. Sakura found herself wrapped in Naruto's embrace a second later, with tears rolling down her cheeks. He shushed her lightly, tightening his grip around her and rubbing her back. Shikamaru arrived next to them, whispering in Naruto's ear, "It might be a trap."

"I know," Naruto whispered back, trying to keep his cool in front of Sakura and the younger kids. "I'll check it out. You stay here with Sakura."

He released his grip on Sakura, kissing her quickly before handing her off to Shikamaru. "Stay here while I take a look. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"But-" Sakura started, wiping her eyes.

"Stay here," Naruto repeated. When she didn't argue, he turned away, forcing himself forward towards the telephone pole where the Fifth Hokage hung.

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed and she held back her tears as she made herself examine Tsunade's body from afar. After a moment of staring, her eyes shot to one of Tsunade's sandals, where the corner of something barely stuck out past her toes. It was a red piece of paper, she realized, as Naruto inched towards the pole.

"Shit."

Her train of thought ended as Shikamaru voiced his opinion aloud, apparently coming to the same conclusion as her. Without warning, she jerked out of his grip, dashing towards Naruto, who started to turn around to see who was coming. His face registered shock and surprise, and then a second later, fear, as he identified it was Sakura running towards him. At the same time, his foot moved forward an inch, and the road sunk in under it, triggering the trap.

Time slowed down.

"NARUTO!"

The paper bomb attached to Tsunade's foot exploded, and Naruto disappeared from view as he was completely engulfed in flames. Sakura cried out, increasing her pace and running as fast as her feet would take her.

Someone got a grip on her arm, she didn't know who, and spun her around like Naruto had just a few seconds earlier. She pushed the person as hard as she could, and they stumbled backwards, releasing her with surprise. Black smoke was rising from the fading fire, and nobody but Sakura had the strength to look at what was left of Naruto Uzumaki.

**Author's Note: Alright, I put this here because I'd rather not be mobbed by angry NaruSaku fans. I don't want to give anything away, but if I don't, I will be hunted down and executed, so here it is: DO NOT WORRY. I can't tell you what's gonna happen, but just wait for the next chapter and all will be explained. I'm not saying Naruto and Tsunade are dead, but I'm not saying they aren't either. **


	21. Celebration

"Hey, you're finally awake!"

Sakura's eyes fluttered open, and she rubbed them roughly, registering her quick heartbeat and wondering exactly what was going on. Her eyes were drawn to two red streaks above her head, and as everything came into focus, Kiba's blurry face solidified. He grinned at her. "Boy, did you need some sleep," he commented, turning away from her and facing the room's only door. "She's up, someone get in here!"

"What happened?" Sakura muttered, squinting up at him. "Where am I?" She sat up quickly, remembering what had happened to Naruto, and unexpectedly banged heads with Kiba. They both clutched their foreheads, groaning in pain.

"Geez, don't have a cow! You're in Konoha Hospital: Repaired Edition! Naruto brought you back a couple days ago. You were exhausted. He said that you fell asleep on the way back, and he had to carry you all the way back to the village. You've been asleep for about two days, and we've all been taking turns watching you."

"I'm...in Konoha?"

"Duh. Where the hell did you think you were?"

Tsunade dashed into the room at that moment, knocking Kiba to the side and skidding to a stop next to Sakura's bed in a very un Tsunade like manner. "Sakura!"

Sakura rubbed the back of her head, still not sure what exactly was going on. "Tsunade-sama?" The details of her dream came flooding back to her. "Tsunade-sama!" She leaped out of her bed and threw her arms around her sensei. "You're alive!"

Tsunade frowned, patting her student's back awkwardly. "Um...yeah..."

Sakura heard someone else enter the room, but she chose not to look up, instead squeezing her sensei tighter and shutting her eyes just as tightly. Kiba and Tsunade were reminded of a toddler, but they chose not to express their opinions out loud.

"Hey, sleepyhead!" came Naruto's voice. He gave her his usual wide grin, and waved his hand casually. "Glad to see you're awa-"

He was promptly tackled to the ground by a pink-haired blur, his back crashing onto the tiled floor with a loud thump. Kiba and Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise, but they were nothing compared to Naruto's expression.

Naruto twitched repeatedly from his spot on the floor, staring up at his girlfriend with shock. "Sakura...chan......ow..." His face turned blue as Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, cutting off his ability to inhale or exhale. "Can't...breathe..."

A pair of warm lips descended on his own, and Naruto stopped struggling, deciding that he actually didn't mind this at all.

Kiba raised an eyebrow at the couple. "Get a room."

* * *

"Now that you're finally awake...and back in Konoha...we've decided to throw you a little celebration. I'm gonna make this the most fun day of your life!" Naruto proclaimed.

"I had no idea I was this...this..." Sakura raised an eyebrow as only one word came to her. "...popular!"

She tugged Naruto down the road by his hand, her eyes glinting happily as most of the villagers of Konoha marched by them, playing drums, trumpets, and countless other instruments. Various stands surrounded them, selling everything from cotton candy to balloons. It was literally a parade, all because of Sakura's return to Konoha.

"I think you might have some connections that explain all of this...such as being the apprentice to the current Hokage," Naruto pointed out with a smirk. Sakura smirked back as Chouji dashed up behind Naruto, bringing his arm around the Jinchurikki and slamming a half-eaten pie right into Naruto's face.

"Shut up, Naruto," he mumbled through a piece of the pie. A few crumbs fell out of his mouth as he grinned at Sakura. "I'll admit I thought I'd never see you again," he said, managing to keep the grin on his face. "So I'm glad you're alive."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Naruto's tongue dart out and lick some of the pie off of his face. She couldn't suppress a grin. "It's good to see you too, Chouji."

"Bastard," Naruto added to the biggest member of the original Rookie Nine, before grabbing for Sakura's hand and leading her away as quickly as he could. Sakura threw a quick wave over her shoulder in Chouji's direction as she tried to keep up. Smiling villagers were everywhere, whether at the sight of her, Naruto's face, or the two of them together, Sakura didn't know, but at the moment, she didn't really care.

"Hop on!" Naruto cried cheerfully, and Sakura let out another laugh at the sight of his face as he turned around to look at her. He held his arms out behind him, much like Rock Lee had done to Neji during his piggy back offer, and Sakura complied. Naruto leaped into the air, feeling Sakura's chin on his shoulder as he carried her on his back.

They landed a second later, on a building high above the parade, where they got a bird's-eye view of the huge band and even bigger floats following behind. "This is amazing," Sakura commented as Naruto put her down.

"Isn't it?" Naruto replied, looking over at her. Sakura burst into laughter. "What?!" he asked, somewhat annoyed.

"You have a little something on your face..."

He frowned at her, wiping his cheek with a finger and glancing at the remnants of pie he had wiped off. After another second of examination, he poked Sakura's cheek. "Now you do too."

"You're so immature," Sakura observed, wiping the pie off of her face and licking it off her finger.

"Chouji's the immature one."

"Well, who's the one still sporting the whipped cream beard?"

"Aw, shut up. Not my fault," came the arguement. "I'll get it off."

"Let me help." Sakura smirked, leaning in close to his face. If Naruto hadn't had pie on his cheeks, Sakura would've seen them turn red. After another moment of suspense, Sakura gave him a quick peck of the lips, and then wiped some of the whipped cream off with a finger and ate it.

Naruto groaned. "Tease."

"You thought I was going to lick your face? Doubt it, not with all the pie covering it. Get that off yourself," Sakura retaliated with another smirk.

Naruto glared at her, sticking his tongue sideways out of his mouth as far as it would go. "I can't reach."

"Use your hand."

Letting out a loud huff, Naruto used the back of his hand to rub off the rest of the pie, then shook it off onto the ground.

"That's a waste of pie," Sakura pointed out.

"You're a waste of flesh," Naruto retorted, saying the first thing that came to mind.

Sakura gasped angrily, shoving him backwards as hard as she could without using chakra. Naruto stumbled backwards in surprise, then fell... straight off the side of the building.

Sakura's angry expression turned to one of shock. "Naruto!" She dashed to the side of the building and peered over the edge, only to find Naruto sticking straight out below her, his feet glued to the side of the building with blue chakra emanating from them. He smirked.

"Gotcha."

Sakura growled, pushing him again. This time his feet slid slightly, and losing his concentration, Naruto plummeted to the ground, landing butt-first. Sakura rubbed her hands together in satisfaction.

Surprisingly unhurt, Naruto sat up from his spot on the ground, looking up at Sakura. "Ow."

"You're a ninja. Get over it."

Naruto rubbed his head with a moan, feeling a small bump on the side of it. "It just dawned on me that my girlfriend has pink hair," he muttered to himself.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

Sakura leaped down onto the ground beside him, offering her hand. He took it grudgingly, letting her pull him up. She raised an eyebrow at him as he continued to rub his head.

"You ok?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, when suddenly, a purple blur came flying through the air in front of him, and in the next second, Sakura was knocked sideways, a grinning Hinata gripping her tightly.

"We finally found you guys," Kiba commented, walking up behind them. "Practically everyone's looking for you. I went and got Hinata after you both ran off. She's been dying to see Sakura...as you can probably tell."

Sakura let out a nervous laugh as Hinata let her go.

"Are you okay? I'm so glad Naruto found you..." Hinata started, her usual stuttering gone.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sakura replied with a smile. "How've you been the past three months?"

"Well," Hinata continued, reaching for Kiba's hand. He grinned at her. "We've got something to tell you...Kiba and I agreed that as soon as you came back... and we knew you would, of course, with Naruto after you... we would finally have our wedding!"

Both Naruto's and Sakura's jaws dropped. "WHAT?"

Kiba scratched the back of his head nervously as he examined their expressions. After a moment, he took two envelopes out of his pocket and handed them to Naruto and Sakura. "Uh...see you guys later, okay?" He dashed off down the road without another word, pulling Hinata along behind him.

There was a long pause as Naruto and Sakura stared down at the pieces of paper. "Are these invitations?" Sakura finally asked.

"Open it," Naruto suggested. Sakura complied, pulling the flap of the envelope up and pulling out the piece of paper inside. They scanned the writing on the contents quickly.

"What the hell?!" Naruto exclaimed. "Their wedding's in three days!"


	22. Calling off the Parade

**Alright, some of you seemed a little confused, so I'll clear things up for everybody :)**

**Everything that happened so far was real, up until the part where they arrived at Konoha and Tsunade and Naruto died. The part where Sakura woke up and Naruto talked to Manami actually did happen, but somewhere between that and when they arrived at Konoha, Sakura fell asleep, and that's when the dream started. **

**So basically, if I had to put the events of the story in order, with the real stuff in regular type, and the dream stuff in parenthesis, it would look like this:**

**1. Naruto talks to Manami and gets scolded by Kakashi. **

**2. Sakura falls asleep. Naruto carries her back to the village while she is asleep, although you don't find this out until later.**

**3. They arrive at the village. (Tsunade and Naruto die.) Sakura, still unconscious, is taken to Konoha's Hospital, where she is watched over while she is asleep. **

**If anyone is still confused, go to Chapter 20 and find the page break around the middle. Where it says, "The next three days were surprisingly uneventful..." is the start of the part that is a dream. The dream part ends, obviously, at the end of Chapter 20. At the beginning of Chapter 21, Sakura wakes up.**

* * *

"Oh no oh no oh no oh no..." Sakura repeated frantically, pacing back and forth across her living room. Naruto sat on a nearby couch, eating a cup of ramen and watching her nervously. The loud music of the band and parade could still be heard coming from the streets.

"Calm down, Sakura. Everything will be fine. Just think about how much fun we were having BEFORE Hinata and Kiba showed up."

"I just can't handle all this right now," Sakura rambled. "We've already got all this stuff with Sasuke, I mean, he could show up any second and we haven't even been worrying about it when we need to, Tsunade-sama hardly has any security up, and what about Taro, Manami, and Inari, where are they going to stay? And now Hinata and Kiba are getting married and they're way too young and I don't have a dress and you don't have a tux and it's in only three days, and plus Inari's mom could be in serious danger, and what if Tsunade-sama sends me on a mission? And I had this awful dream where you and Tsunade-sama died and I don't want it to come true, and I talked to Tsunade-sama and I think I...and, and...and the whole village is busy celebrating and I tried to go along with it and be normal but I don't think I can!" She collapsed on the couch next to him, sobbing loudly. Naruto's eyes widened, and he set his ramen down quickly so he could wrap both arms around her.

"Calm down, everything will be ok," he whispered, shushing her and kissing her on the side of her head.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed out and I don't know what to do about it..." She sniffed loudly, leaning against him.

"It's fine, you're not alone, Sakura. I'll fix everything," Naruto promised. "Inari and the others are fine. Taro's staying with Kakashi-sensei in his apartment, and Tsunade's given Manami and Inari a place to stay near her office. I'll get Tsunade to end the celebration early and put up security in case Sasuke shows up, and we can go buy our clothes for the wedding tonight if you want to, or tomorrow. That way we can still go to the wedding rehearsal in two days. Plus, I'm sure you won't have to go on any missions anytime soon, so you won't have to worry about that." He paused for a second, adjusting himself to face her. "What dream?"

"I guess it's not that important," Sakura replied with a shrug. "But I dreamed that Sasuke killed both you and Tsunade, and I couldn't do anything about it."

"I thought you might've been having a bad dream..." Naruto said. "You were struggling a lot in your sleep while I was carrying you, but I didn't want to wake you up because you seemed like you needed some extra sleep after what you went through. I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your fault."

Naruto smiled slightly in response, then lifted her up without warning, spinning her around quickly before setting her on her feet. Sakura shook her head quickly, trying not to giggle. "I wasn't expecting that."

"C'mon, cheer up. Here, let's go talk to Tsunade. Then we can go shopping, alright?"

* * *

Tsunade stared out of her office window happily at the huge parade as it stampeded by, glad that she could give her favorite pupil one day of fun. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and she stood up to go open it, revealing Naruto and Sakura on the other side. She smiled brightly. "Come on in!"

They complied, and Tsunade shut the door behind them. "Enjoying your day? I'm sure it's a nice relief for you both of you, especially after hearing the big n..." She stopped abruptly when she caught Sakura's eye, who had been shaking her head quickly. Luckily, Naruto didn't seem to notice anything.

"It is a relief, Granny Tsunade..." Tsunade winced at the nickname. "...and we both appreciate it, but I think it would be better to just have some peace and quiet around here. Plus, we should probably get some guards placed around the gates to the village, in case Sasuke comes after Sakura."

"He's been practicing one-handed jutsu over the past few months," Sakura added. "so he can still fight, but last I saw, he wasn't that good with it yet."

"Alright," Tsunade said with a sigh. "I understand. The parade will be called off immediately, so you two can have some peace and quiet. But other than that, I can't stop the villagers from celebrating."

"Thanks, Granny," Naruto replied. He nodded at her, then turned to leave, pulling Sakura along by the hand. "Oh, by the way, are you going to be at Kiba and Hinata's wedding?" he asked just as he got to the door. "I hear they've given out all the invitations now."

"No, I got an invitation, but I'll be too busy fending off an entire mob of angry Hyuugas to go, with the exception of Neji and Hanabi," Tsunade replied.

"Oh, ok... I was just wondering."

Naruto left first, and right before Sakura shut the door behind them, she exchanged looks with Tsunade, pressing her index finger against her lips in a shushing gesture.

* * *

By the time Naruto and Sakura returned to Sakura's house, the loud band and huge floats were already clearing off of the streets.

"Alright, should we go shopping for dresses now, or tomorrow?" Naruto asked, glancing outside. The sky was beginning to darken, and he guessed that it was probably around 5 or 6 o'clock.

Sakura let out a loud sigh. "I'm exhausted, let's do it tomorrow." She paused and layed down on the couch, looking up at her boyfriend. "Could you run to the store and buy me some tariyaki chicken?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"I just really feel like having tariyaki chicken right now."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, shrugging after a second. "Sure...yeah, ok. I'll be back in a little while, alright?"

"Thanks, honey."

He paused with his hand on the knob of the front door. "Are you sure it's okay for me to leave you alone?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Well...okay then. See you in a few minutes." He stepped outside and shut the door behind him, throwing a quick glance back into the house before stepping off the front porch and starting the walk to the nearest grocery store. "That was weird."


	23. The Wedding Part 1

"Ok, so what color dress did you say you wanted?"

"Red."

Naruto stood with his hand on the knob of his apartment's front door, raising an eyebrow at Sakura, who was standing in the kitchen, rummaging through his fridge. "Are you sure I should do this by myself? What if I get you something you don't like?"

"As long as you get me a red dress, I'll be fine, Naruto. Don't worry about it." Sakura closed his fridge and turned towards him, crossing her arms. "All you have is ramen."

"Look, maybe we should just do this later, when your...sickness...what was it again?" Naruto asked, ignoring her ramen comment.

"I have a cold, and a sore throat," Sakura lied defensively, sniffing slightly. "And we can't wait until I feel better, because the wedding is in two days."

"Well, what if I start to get sick? You spent the night here, so maybe I got what you have. And if your throat is sore, then ramen will be good for it. It'll go down easily."

"You won't catch it, and I just don't want ramen."

Naruto sighed, finally giving in. "Then what do you want? You already finished all the chicken I bought last night. I'll swing by the grocery store while I'm out and get you something."

"Never mind, I don't want anything. Just get me a red dress."

Naruto blinked at her, trying to stop his face from turning red with anger. After a second, he decided to dash out of the house before Sakura could change her mind again.

He ran down the road as fast as he could, heading towards the center of the village, where there would be more stores and stands he could by things from. He turned a corner...and ran straight into Shikamaru.

"Hey, watch where you're going," Shikamaru told him, rubbing the spot where he and Naruto had bumped heads.

"Sorry, Shikamaru, I'm kind of in a hurry. Kiba and Hinata's wedding is two days from now, and we still have to get a tuxedo for me and a dress for Sakura."

"Where's Sakura?" Shikamaru asked, peeking around Naruto like he expected Sakura to be hiding there. He raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be watching her, with all the stuff that's happened, and Sasuke still on the loose? Plus, I figured she would want to pick out her own dress."

"She insisted I should go alone," Naruto replied bitterly. "She's gone wacko, I swear!" He made a circular motion with one finger next to his ear.

"She made me go out and buy some chicken for her just out of the blue, and I bought a lot because I figured we could have it for dinner, but then she ate all of it! I didn't get one bite! And then this morning she was all like 'make me some hot chocolate' and I said 'Sakura, I don't have hot chocolate, and it's not even cold outside' and then when I wouldn't go get that for her, she wouldn't talk to me for two hours! And now she won't eat ramen, which is the only thing I have at my house, and so when I asked if I could get something else for her, she changed her mind completely. Plus now she says she's sick with a cold and a sore throat, and she's making me go get a wedding dress for her that she might not even like!" He let out a deep breath. "I know she's been through a lot recently, and I love her, so I'm trying to be a good boyfriend and do all the stuff she wants me to. But I don't think I can take it much longer, and it's been less than one day! I have no idea what's wrong with her!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, shaking his head quickly. "It's unbelievable how stupid you can be, Naruto."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Huh?"

Shikamaru took a step forward, clapping Naruto on the shoulder sympathetically. "That's what you get for not using a condom, buddy," he commented, crossing his arms behind his head and walking away, whistling softly.

Naruto watched him go, a thoughtful frown on his face. "What on earth is a condom?"

* * *

"Alright, I'm back!" Naruto called cheerfully, bursting through the front door to see Sakura lying on the couch comfortably, watching television.

"Hey, Naruto, thank you so much for getting my dress for me," Sakura told him, standing up and walking over to him to kiss him on the cheek. Naruto grinned at her.

"Back to normal now?" he asked.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"From...being sick!" Naruto said quickly, covering up his own slip-up.

"Oh...yeah, I'm better now," Sakura replied.

"That's good," Naruto told her as Sakura took the bags of clothes from him.

"Hey Sakura, what's a condom?"

Sakura dropped the bags in her hands, turning bright red. "You don't know what a condom is?"

"No, but Shikamaru told me I should've used one. I don't know what he meant, though, because I don't know what a condom actually is. So I was hoping you could tell me."

"Um..." Sakura resisted the urge to crack her knuckles. "He just probably meant your breath stinks," she thought up. "Condoms are a fancy word for toothbrushes."

"Oh...okay, well, I'm gonna go use a condom to clean my teeth, then, right now!" Naruto cried, running off to his bathroom. Sakura probably would've died laughing if she wasn't so mad.

"I'm going to go over to Ino's for a couple of hours, okay?" Sakura called to him. "I'll see you later tonight!"

"What about your dress?" Naruto called back. "Don't you want to look at it?"

"I'm sure I'll like it. See you later!"

Sakura left the house quickly and headed for Ino's place, which was just a couple of blocks away. She rang the doorbell, and Ino answered, seemingly surprised to see her. Ino's eyes quickly flickered from Sakura's face to her stomach, and back again.

"Is Shikamaru here?" Sakura hissed.

"Um..." Ino looked behind her quickly, and Sakura heard several bangs and crashes before Ino turned back around. "No, he's not here," she lied weakly. Sakura shoved past Ino and stomped into the house just in time to see Shikamaru dash down a nearby hallway and dive into one of the bedrooms, locking himself in. Sakura marched over to the door and banged on it loudly, her face flaming red.

"Shikamaru Nara, get your ass out here right this second, before I break down this door and tear you limb from limb!"

"I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" came a very nervous voice from inside the room. "Well, I told Ino, but other than her, nobody else knows!"

"How did YOU know?"

"Naruto told me you were acting weird and I figured it out! Go yell at him instead!"

"You better be glad Naruto didn't know what a condom was, or you'd be dead right now," Sakura hissed. Ino laughed loudly from down the hall.

"He doesn't know what a condom is?!"

Sakura ignored Ino's comment. "If either of you tells anyone, I swear to God, I will kill both of you."

"Sakura, you're stomach's gonna start to get bigger..."

"I'll handle that when the time comes, okay? I don't want this spreading around the entire village yet."

"How far along are you?" Ino asked, walking towards her. "It can't have been that long, you only just got back into the village less than a week ago."

"Yeah, I'm only about a week along. But seriously, not only can you two not tell..." Sakura paused, looking at the door. "Shikamaru, just come out of there!"

"Sorry." The door opened, and Shikamaru stepped outside, looking from Ino to Sakura. "Continue."

"Okay. Not only can you not tell, but you're going to have to help cover for me, too. I've been kind of emotional lately..."

"As Naruto has stated..."

Sakura glared at Shikamaru. "Yes, as Naruto has stated. That's the problem. From now on, you're job is going to be to make up reasons to suggest to Naruto what could be wrong with me, like PMS or something. Plus, I'm trying to eat a lot so if I start to get bigger, Naruto will just think it's because I'm eating so much."

"Oh...so you DID actually have a reason for hogging the dinner Naruto was telling me about."

"Duh, I'm not stupid."

"How long do you expect to keep this from him, exactly?" Ino asked. "You can't keep the whole freaking pregnancy a secret, you see him every day!"

"I don't know yet," Sakura muttered. "But this is Naruto, I'm sure he won't be able to figure it out for a while. I guess I'll tell him when I want to. I don't know how long that will be. It might be tomorrow...or it might be in a few months. Just help me keep it a secret for now, okay? You two and Tsunade-sama are the only ones that know."

Ino and Shikamaru glanced at each other, then back at Sakura. They sighed. "Alright."

* * *

**Two days later...**

"Yes, the wedding is today!" Naruto cried excitedly, jumping up out of bed. Sakura, who had been spending the night for the past few nights because of Naruto requesting it, woke up with surprise.

"Naruto! I told you not to do that!"

"Sorry..." Naruto replied sheepishly. "I'm just excited!"

Sakura couldn't help smiling. "I know how you feel. Two of the kids we've known most of our lives are getting married to each other!"

"Oh, by the way, did you like your dress?" Naruto asked. "You looked so good in it at the rehearsal yesterday."

"Yes, I loved it. Thank you," Sakura told him sincerely, walking over to him and giving him a kiss. Naruto's eyes slid shut and he deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around Sakura. His stomach suddenly grumbled loudly, and they broke apart at the sound. Naruto scratched his head nervously.

"I guess I'm hungry," he said with a smile. "Do you want anything to eat? All I have is ramen, but I can go and get..."

"It's fine, Naruto, I'll have ramen," Sakura replied quickly, placing a hand on his arm and smiling at him. "You don't have to go and get me anything."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Phew, well, I'm glad your Tourettes is all cleared up, now."

Sakura's eye twitched. "My...what?"

"Your Tourettes. You know, Tourette syndrome? Shikamaru told me all about it. It makes people yell out all this stuff that they don't really mean. That's why you've been yelling at me to get you all this stuff lately!"

"Shikamaru...told you..." Sakura repeated slowly.

"Yup! He said you had Tourettes!"

Sakura let out a deep breath. "Don't believe anything Shikamaru tells you from now on, okay? Tourettes is a tic disorder, and I most certainly do NOT have it."

"But he said that's why you..."

"I don't care what he said, he was wrong, okay? From now on, if you have any questions about me at all, talk to Ino, alright?"

"...well, okay, but..."

"No buts. Let's just eat breakfast."

* * *

Sakura and Naruto entered a small church whose name matched the one on their invitation, and saw that there was already a huge group of people seated on two different sides.

"Do we sit on the bride's side or the groom's side?" Naruto asked Sakura.

"I don't know...it looks like there are mostly guys on Kiba's side, and mostly girls on Hinata's side."

Ino and Shikamaru walked up to them suddenly, Shikamaru avoiding Sakura's eyes.

"Hey!" Ino exclaimed. "Shikamaru and I are helping out with the wedding! Naruto, you're on Kiba's side, and Sakura's on Hinata's side, alright? You guys should go ahead and take your seats, the wedding's about to start!"

Naruto and Sakura nodded, and Naruto went to sit on the left side of the room, while Sakura went to sit on the right. Kiba was already up at the altar, with Shino, who was obviously his best man, standing next to him.

The music started, and Sakura noticed that it was Kurenai playing the wedding music. Everyone turned towards the back of the church to see Hinata being led down the isle by none other than Neji. There was some murmuring amongst the crowd, and Sakura concluded, along with everyone else, that Neji was standing in for Hinata's father, who probably wasn't willing to participate.

Naruto, who was sitting across the room, next to Chouji, smiled brightly when he saw Neji leading Hinata down the isle. Chouji raised an eyebrow as he looked at Naruto's face.

"Wow, Naruto, your teeth are so clean, you must be taking extra-good care of them, huh?"

"Yup, I used a condom this morning!"


	24. The Wedding Part 2

* * *

Naruto watched as Hinata continued down the aisle, squinting his eyes and grinning again as he tried to imagine Sakuradoing the same thing, with himself in Kiba's place. He saw Chouji give him a strange look out of the corner of his eye, but he chose to ignore it in favor of watching the wedding.

Hinata reached the end of the aisle, and Neji handed her off to Kiba, then sat down in the front row. Tenten, the Maid of Honor, arrived behind them. Lastly, came both Akamaru, the ring-bearer, and Hanabi, the flower girl, who had accidentally missed their cues. The audience pretended not to notice.

Naruto blinked tiredly a couple of times as a man up front Naruto didn't recognize began a long speech, reading from a large book in his hands. Hinata and Kiba held hands and grinned at each other, and Naruto concluded that they probably weren't even listening to the man. He glanced sideways at Hinata's section and saw Sakura holding a handkerchief and dabbing at her eyes, which were red and puffy. He held back a snort and slumped down in his chair, crossing his arms. _"This is way more boring than I thought it would be...where's the food?!" _

He felt something tickle his leg, and looked down to see several bees crawling up it. He held back a squeal and adjusted himself so that he was sitting back up in his chair again, staring down at his leg with wide eyes. The bees flew away almost instantly. Naruto glanced back up at the altar to see Shino staring back at him through his sunglasses. He gulped, and Shino looked away.

"...as long as you both shall live?"

There was a long moment of silence as the man stared at Kiba, who was staring at Hinata, who changed from staring at Kiba's face to staring at their joined hands. She sighed wistfully. The noise jerked Kiba out of whatever daydream he was in, and his eyebrow furrowed as he noticed the silence. He looked from Hinata to the man standing next to them, and noticed that the man was staring at him. "...huh?"

The man sighed. "Do you, Kiba Inuzuka, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in the Holy Estate of Matrimony; to love, honor, comfort her and keep her in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto her as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Kiba answered firmly.

"And do you, Hinata Hyuuga, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to live together in the Holy Estate of Matrimony; to love, honor, comfort him and keep him in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keep you only unto him as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Do you have the rings?" the man asked, looking from Tenten, to Shino, to Hanabi, and finally, to Akamaru. He raised his eyebrows as Akamarustuck his tongue out, revealing boththe rings, safe and sound inside his mouth. The man frowned, and Kiba grinned, retrieving the rings quickly. The man cleared his throat as Kiba handed Hinata one of the rings. "Er...put the rings on each other'sfingers, and then repeat after me: Withthis ring I thee wed in love and truthand with all my worldly goods I thee endow."

Hinata quickly repeated the line, sliding one of the rings onto Kiba's finger, but Kiba hesitated. "Um...come again?"

A few tries and memorizations later, both rings were on, and Kiba and Hinata joined their right hands at the man's command.

"By virtue of the authority vested in me by Konoha's 5th Hokage, I now pronounce you Husband and Wife. You may kiss the bride."

Cameras flashed and people cheered as Kiba bowed over Hinata and kissed her, nearly dropping her in the process. Naruto rubbed his hands together, and Chouji did the same next to him. It was cake time.

* * *

Three hours, twenty presents, one bungled cake-cutting, two curses ("Shikamaru! We're in a church!"), and one large stolen piece of cake via Akamaru later, Naruto was patting his stomach and burping loudly, Sakura sitting next to him and still dabbing at her eyes. The first wedding guests were beginning to leave, and a large spot in the center of the church had been cleared for dancing, which was where Kiba and Hinata plus many other couples could still be found.

"Don't they look great together?" Sakura asked with a sigh.

"Mmmhmm," Naruto said absentmindedly, frowning in thought.

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she turned towards him. "Naruto, are you even paying attention to m-"

"Ever thought about getting married, Sakura?" Naruto interrupted.

Sakura's anger disappeared. "You mean...us?"

"Yeah. I mean, just seeing all this today make me think about what it would be like. Getting married, starting a family...wouldn't it be great? Not any time soon, of course...I mean, just, in general. Marriage in general. Ever thought about it?" he rambled, looking at her nervously out of the corner of his eye.

Sakura layed her head on his shoulder, smiling softly. "Sometimes. Well, a lot recently, actually, ever since..." she trailed off, her smile fading. Suddenly, she sat up, looking at him seriously.

Naruto frowned at her expression. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

"Listen...there's something I need to tell you," she said slowly. "I'm-"

"Hey, lookey what we got here! It's Miss PMS and her boyfriend! Look at her, just PMSing all over the place! It's uncontrollable!" Ino cried, swooping in and grabbing Sakura by the arm. "I'm gonna borrow Sakura real quick, okay Naruto? Shikamaru, you hang out here, that's an order!" Ino cried over her shoulder, already pulling Sakura away. "We'll see you guys later!"

Ino dragged Sakura all the way over to the snack bar before she finally released her arm.

"What the hell was that?" Sakura hissed.

Ino clicked her tongue disapprovingly, wagging her finger in Sakura's face. "Cursing in a church, young lady, you're just as bad as Shikamaru...and I just saved you, that's what that was! You were going to tell him!"

"Yeah, because I wanted to! Ever considered THAT?"

Ino frowned. "Er...okay, no, I didn't. But I just looked over and saw you about to say it, so I figured I'd dash in and help out. And it worked!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Look, I know I was going to wait to tell him, but he seems really excited about starting a family and all that...so I think I should just go ahead and let him know I'm pregnant."

"You're WHAT?"

Sakura and Ino spun around to see Kiba, Hinata, Neji, and Tenten staring at them. Even Neji's jaw had dropped.

"Um..." Sakura'sface went red with embarrassment. "I'm...pregnant?"

"Sh! Not so loud or more people will hear..." Ino whispered. The two girls ran forward and grabbed the other four ninja, dragging them into the boys' bathroom of the church so that they could have some privacy.

"Um...you guys aren't allowed in h-"

"Shut up," Ino interrupted Kiba, locking the door. "Nobody'll come in here now, so it doesn't matter."

Sakura sighed loudly, crossing her arms over her stomach protectively. Four pairs of eyes instantly locked onto her belly. "Listen, only Tsunade, Ino, and Shikamaru have known until now...so you four better not tell ANYONE, okay?" she hissed. Everyone nodded quickly.

"Why don't you want anyone to know?" Tenten asked once everyone had finished nodding.

"I don't know, I just don't want the fact that I'm eighteen and pregnant going around the entire village!" Sakura growled sarcastically.

"You're PREGNANT!?"

Three bathroom stalls burst open at the same time to reveal a wide-eyed Chouji, Shino, and Rock Lee. **(Let's just assume Shino's eyes are wide, 'kay?)**

"You've got to be kidding me..." Sakura whispered, rubbing her temples.

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, as of now my plan is to make the next chapter the last one for this story, because this sequel is already longer than the first story, so I want to get to a stopping point so that I can start a third story next. I know what the stopping point is going to be plot-wise, but I don't know how long it will take me to actually get there. But if the next chapter isn't the last one, then the one after that definitely will be. Just letting you guys know where I'm at right now. **

**Secondly, I know I used to be a really fast updater and that I have slowed down a lot since then, but I am trying to pick it up again, as you might be able to tell. I'm currently on Christmas Break, so I have more time to write, but once school starts back up again I may be slower. Just be patient, I am not planning on quitting on this story or the next one anytime soon. **

**And thirdly, I have absolutely NO IDEA what to name the third story in this series. I would ask for help, but since you guys don't neccesarily know what it is going to be about, I'm afraid it would be harder for you to think up a title. :( I'm letting you all know this because that might delay my writing a little bit. I've thought of some titles already, but most of them are too specific and sound more like good chapter titles. Anyway, hope everyone has enjoyed the story so far, and I'm definitely looking forward to writing this next chapter, although there probably won't be much comedy in it... :(**


	25. Pain, Proposals, and Pregnancies

"No telling," Sakura hissed again, emphasizing her point as they all exited the bathroom. Konohamaru was standing outside the bathroom door with his hands between his legs, and he instantly ran inside as soon as they came out. Shino raised an eyebrow at the younger boy.

"Alright, relax. We won't tell anyone," Kiba told Sakura. "But I still don't see what you're so worked up about. With a little luck, Hinata should be right behind you in a few weeks anyway!" He grinned. Hinata went red with embarrassment and dashed off before anyone could say anything, while Chouji and Tenten snickered. "Hehe..." Kiba chuckled. "I guess I should probably go after her..." he walked off, calling Hinata's name loudly enough for everyone attending the wedding to hear, and for once, Sakura could think of someone that she would actually NOT prefer to be at that very moment. She sighed.

"Look, I'm getting tired. I should probably grab Naruto and head home," she told the remaining members of the group. "I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Alright. I'll go find Naruto with you, though. I left Shikamaru with him," Ino replied. They bid the others goodbye and headed towards the seats that they had left their boyfriends at. "They're not here," Ino commented, furrowing their eyebrows. "Where did they go?"

They walked around for a few minutes, searching the church for the boys, but they were nowhere to be found. Sakura felt her heart start beating faster. _"Sasuke..." _

"What if-" Sakura began, but a loud clang that came from outside made her cut herself off mid-sentence. "What was that?"

"I don't know..." Ino said slowly. "Let's go look."

They hurried to the outside of the building, heading towards the source of the noise. "I can hardly see anything, it's getting too dark out," Sakura called.

"Me neither," Ino replied. Another loud clang came from around the corner, and Sakura recognized the sound this time: the clanging of kunai. She rushed around the corner, Ino following behind her just as quickly, and they skidded to a stop when they saw the source of the noise. Their jaws dropped.

"Duuude... y-y-your aim is sooooooo b-baaad," Naruto slurred, swaying slightly and crunching another can in his hand. He giggled, flinging the can up in the air. Shikamaru laughed next to him, picking up a kunai off the ground and flinging it at the can. He hit it dead-on with a loud clang, and the can plummeted to the ground, landing on the ground with a small banging sound.

"N-no it's nooot, it's p-perFECT!" Shikamaru shouted back, shoving Naruto playfully. Naruto stumbled backwards, then stood still for a second, blinking, before he fell backwards, onto the ground. Sakura stomped over to him, waving a hand in front of his face. He was out cold.

"It's sake," Ino muttered to her friend, picking up one of the many cans that littered the ground and sniffing it. She turned to Shikamaru. "You're drunk!"

"Am...not..." Shikamaru swayed slightly, then fell to the ground, unconscious. Both girls crossed their arms and stared down at their sleeping boyfriends. They looked from the boys, to each other, and back again, then, faces twitching angrily, they punched both boys in their stomachs simultaneously.

Two pairs of eyes shot open instantly, and Naruto and Shikamaru both leaned forward and threw up all over the ground next to themselves. Ino and Sakura frowned and covered their noses.

"You...bitch..." Shikamaru got out, before he leaned back down on his back again, breathing heavily. Naruto just groaned, mimicking Shikamaru's movements.

"This is a WEDDING!" Sakura shouted, leaning down so her face was close to Naruto's. She tried not to wince at the smell. "You are UNDERAGE, so you shouldn't even be drinking in the first place, and two of your best friends just got married! Didn't you two get all this partying done at Kiba's bachelor party?"

"Missed it...taking care...of you..." Naruto mumbled, still trying to catch his breath. He leaned forward and threw up again, and Sakura's angry expression instantly turned to one of concern.

"Here," she held a hand out towards him, and he grabbed it, letting her help him up. "I forgot, you decided not to go," she murmured, throwing one of his arms around her shoulder so she could help him walk. "Let's just get you home. We'll talk about this later." She glanced over at the other couple to see Ino still berating Shikamaru, who looked like he was about to pass out again. Sakura sighed. "Ino, you should just work on getting him home, too. He's probably not even listening."

Ino looked like she was about to argue, but after another glance at Shikamaru, she also sighed. "Alright, fine." She glared down at Shikamaru. "But don't think you're off the hook! Thanks to this little stunt you pulled, no sex for a month, you hear me?!"

Even a drunk Shikamaru picked up on that. "Huh?" When Ino continued to glare at him, he just groaned.

* * *

Even Sakura, who was probably the strongest girl in Konoha, besides the Hokage, had trouble helping a nearly dead-weight Naruto back to his house. "Where did you get the sake, Naruto?" she asked softly, grunting from his weight as she took another step.

"Shika...had..." Naruto hiccuped loudly, and Sakura brought them to a stop, watching him carefully. "Sakura-chan...I'm...sorry..." he breathed out.

"I know, Naruto. Let's just get you home," she repeated. He nodded dumbly. "Do you know how many cans you drank?" she asked.

"I..." he cleared his throat and burped this time, then erupted into a fit of coughs. Sakura stopped again, until he recovered. "...lost count after twelve..."

"OVER TWELVE!?" Sakura cried, momentarily forgetting to stay calm. Naruto winced.

"Please don't yell..." he said quietly, reaching up to rub his ear. Sakura breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm herself.

"Alright," she told him through gritted teeth. "I won't yell."

"Thanks." He fell silent as they started walking again. "I love you, Sakura." His voice was hoarse.

"I love you, too, Naruto."

Naruto grinned, accidentally pressing more of his weight against Sakura. She stumbled slightly, then countered his weight with her own, so both of their shoulders were pressed together. She stood there silently for a moment, catching her breath, then stepped forward again.

"You do?"

Sakura stopped in her tracks, looking at him with surprise. "Of course I do. More than anyone else."

"Even Sasuke?"

"...Definitely more than Sasuke."

"What about...Ino?"

Sakura smiled at him. "Even more than Ino."

"Oh." Naruto paused, grinning again. "That's good...I love you more than anyone else too, Sakura...even more than anything else. If I...had to choose between you...you and being Hokage...I would choose you..."

Sakura blushed, glad that Naruto probably wouldn't notice it and his state. "You don't have to choose. You can have both." She started to take another step to get them moving again.

"...Will you marry me?"

Sakura froze again, turning to face Naruto. "What?"

"I love you," he repeated. He was still slurring his words slightly, Sakura noticed.

"You're drunk."

"...I don't care."

"You won't even remember any of this tomorrow."

"Yes I will."

"No, Naruto, you won't." She spotted a bench nearby, and began moving them towards it. Naruto pulled away from her.

"I...I'm fine. Watch. I'll...I'll move myself." Naruto stumbled towards the bench rebelliously, and Sakura hurried after him, grabbing his arm just before he started to fall. She caught him in time, and Naruto grunted angrily, letting her help him to the bench. They sat down, and Naruto slumped in his seat.

"I wanna marry you, Sakura. I love you," he murmured quietly, looking at her anxiously.

"I know," Sakura replied softly, laying her head on his shoulder. "I want to marry you too, Naruto."

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through Naruto's bedroom window, and he sat up slowly, gripping his head. "Ow..." he let out a loud groan, and Sakura rustled in the bed next to him, sitting up quickly. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I guess that's what you get."

"For what?" Naruto replied, tightening his grip as the pain increased.

"You have a hangover. You and Shikamaru got drunk at the wedding."

"We did? Why?"

"Who knows. You two are lucky Ino and I found the both of you. I walked you all the way home. You could hardly stand up."

"Really?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I don't remember any of that."

Sakura gave him a small smile. "I figured you wouldn't."

* * *

"So what should we do today?" Sakura asked, bringing Naruto a cup of ramen, freshly microwaved.

"Thanks," he replied, beginning to eat it immediately. "I don't know, my head still hurts a little so I don't really feel like going out today. I think the Kyuubi is helping to heal me, though. I'm starting to feel a lot better."

"Imagine how Shikamaru must feel," Sakura replied, cutting up a piece of fruit into slices for herself. "He doesn't have a demon inside of him to help heal him up."

"Oh yes, I feel so sorry for him," Naruto replied sarcastically. Sakura smirked at him.

"Well...since you're starting to feel better, but you want to stay inside all day, there are only a few things we can do..." She laid the knife down on the counter top and walked over to Naruto, bending down in front of him so that their faces were close together. She smirked again "...but I can't really think of anything...can you?"

Naruto looked from Sakura to his cup of ramen, and then back again. The seconds ticked by. "...We could eat ramen all day?" he questioned.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Come here," she grabbed his shirt and pulled him out of his seat, leading him over to the couch. They both sat down, and Sakura scooted closer to Naruto, wrapped both of her arms around his neck and leaning forward so that their noses were almost touching.

"Oh..." Naruto said as Sakura looked at him expectantly. "I think I get it now."

Sakura laughed, leaning forward. Just before their lips touched, she whispered, "I'm pregnant."

**End**

* * *

**A/N: Alright, that's the end of this story, but I will hopefully be starting on the 3rd pretty soon! I actually changed the ending around A LOT, it was originally expected to be way darker. I guess I'll just save the dark part for the next story! Thanks for reading!**


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